Explanation of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban's Lack of "Health Exception"...
Many people (pro-lifers included) feel concerned that there is no "health-of-the-mother" exception to the 2003 Partial Birth Abortion ban.

There are, however, some important things to point out:

1) There is a life of the mother exception. The reason why there is no health of the mother exception is because this procedure is never needed to save the "health" of the mother. How do I know? Look at the way the procedure is done:

"I stood by the doctor's side and watched him perform a partial-birth abortion on a woman who was six months pregnant. The baby's heartbeat was clearly visible on the ultrasound screen. The doctor delivered the baby's body and arms, everything but his little head. The baby's body was moving. His little fingers were clasping together. He was kicking his feet. The doctor took a pair of scissors and inserted them into the back of the baby's head, and the baby's arms jerked out in a flinch, a startle reaction, like the one a baby does when he thinks he might fall. Then the doctor opened the scissors up. Then he stuck the high powered suction tube into the hole and sucked the baby's brains out. Now the baby was completely limp. I never went back to that clinic. But I am still haunted by the face of that little boy. It was the most perfect, most angelic face I've ever seen." ~ Brenda Shafer, RN

Doctors who actually perform these abortions confirm that this is the way they are done.

So how is this graphic description important? Because we look and we see that the head of the baby is left inside the woman's body. If this procedure were done to save the health (or even the life) of the mother, what is the magical thing about leaving the baby's head in and sucking his brains out--as opposed to delivering him completely and letting him die naturally--that saves the health of the mother? Is it necessary?

No, it's not. The reason the head is left in there is because this is an abortion, not a medical procedure to save the woman. Death is the goal. The head must stay in otherwise the baby would be born. Health is not the reason these abortions occur--the desire for the baby to be dead is.

2) Why Don't We Have a Health Exception To Appease the Masses? Because "health", as defined by Doe vs. Bolton, is for any reason. This is why abortions are legal for any reason. A 30 year-old woman could say "I'm too young to have a baby" or "I'm too old to have a baby" and they are both "legitimate" under Doe's "health" definition.

3 Even if we did add the health exception, pro-choice groups would still oppose it. Let's be honest, if we added a health exception (which would make the ban pointless) the pro-choice organizations such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL wouldn't care. Sure, they say that the reason they oppose this is because of the lack of a health exception, but the real reason is because they are pro-abortion-on-demand, any reason, any stage of pregnancy. In other words, it's because they think it's the woman's choice.