We Must Protect Babies From Being Dismembered in Abortions

Legislation has now been introduced in both chambers of Congress to protect babies from the brutal, second-trimester abortion procedure known as D&E – dilation and evacuation. As terrible as that sounds, the true nature of the procedure is far worse: Living babies in the womb are literally torn limb from limb and removed in pieces.

Legislation has been introduced over the years to ban this horrific procedure, but the story remains the same: Bills are introduced in the House or Senate by a Republican, and then referred to committees where they languish until that Congress gavels out.

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Maybe this year can be different. In April, Florida Republican Rep. Kat Cammack of Florida introduced H.R. 8603, the Dismemberment Abortion Ban Act of 2026.

Last week, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi and Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota submitted companion legislation in the Senate, S 4880. The bill has 10 co-sponsors.

Ever since our nation passed, and the Supreme Court upheld, the ban on partial birth abortion 20 years ago, we have been saying that the next step is to protect children from dismemberment abortion.

These measures enjoy the strong support of our fellow citizens, a support that only grows stronger when we actually look at what abortion does to a child in the womb. Abortion does not magically erase a pregnancy. It violently kills a baby.

The medical textbook Abortion Practice by Warren Hern describes this type of abortion in graphic – and accurate – terms: “The procedure changes significantly at 21 weeks because the fetal tissues become much more cohesive and difficult to dismember….A long curved Mayo scissors may be necessary to decapitate and dismember the fetus…”

Abortion advocates know what a dismemberment abortion is but they will never use the word. When the Kansas Senate was debating a state-level ban more than a decade ago, two pro-abortion Democrats spoke out against it, but neither discussed the actual dismemberment method  the law prohibits. And a Planned Parenthood of Kansas and mid-Missouri press release could not even mention the name of the bill which it was opposing, lest people see the word “dismemberment.”

I was happy to be invited to Kansas in 2015 by then-Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas to stand with him as he signed the first-in-the-nation state law to protect babies from the procedure. But tragically, enactment of the law was held up by lawsuits and in 2024, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the law violates the state constitution and permanently blocked enforcement.

Nine other states did enact laws protecting babies from dismemberment. Now it’s time for a federal law. It is time to both end this violence, and to challenge supporters of abortion to describe what they defend.

Can I count on you to call your representatives and senators to let them know you want to see the Dismemberment Abortion Ban of 2026 brought to the floor for votes in both chambers – and that you expect it to pass.

LifeNews.com Note:  Frank Pavone is the national director for Priests for Life.