Many prominent defenders of partial-birth abortion have publicly insisted that the unborn babies are killed by anesthesia given to the mother, prior to being "extracted" from the womb. For example, syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman wrote in November, 1995, that if you listened to supporters of the ban, "You wouldn't even know that anesthesia ends the life of such a fetus before it comes down the birth canal." NARAL President Kate Michelman said, "The fetus, is, before the procedure begins, the anesthesia that they give the woman already causes the demise of the fetus. That is, it is not true that they're born partially. That is a gross distortion, and it's really a disservice to the public to say this." [KMOX-AM, St. Louis, Nov. 2, 1995]
Likewise, Planned Parenthood distributed to Congress a "fact sheet" signed by Dr. Mary Campbell, Medical Director of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, which stated, "The fetus dies of an overdose of anesthesia given to the mother intravenously....This induces brain death in a fetus in a matter of minutes. Fetal demise therefore occurs at the beginning of the procedure while the fetus is still in the womb."
However, when this statement was read to Dr. Norig Ellison, the president of the 34,000-member American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), he testified, "There is absolutely no basis in scientific fact for that statement....I think the suggestion that the anesthesia given to the mother, be it regional or general, is going to cause brain death of the fetus is without basis of fact." [Senate Judiciary Committee hearing record J-104-54, Nov. 17, 1995, p. 153]
Subsequently, in attempting to defend their "fetal demise" claims, pro-abortion advocacy groups disseminated new claims that the late Dr. James McMahon had utilized exceptionally massive doses of narcotic anesthesia before performing his abortions, and that these massive doses would indeed kill a fetus. But in testimony before the House Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee on March 21, 1996, Dr. David J. Birnbach, president-elect of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology, testified:
In order to cause fetal demise, it would be necessary to give the mother dangerous and life-threatening doses of anesthesia." [...] Although there is no evidence that this massive dose will cause fetal demise, there is clear evidence that this excessive dose could cause maternal death. [House Judiciary Committee hearing record no. 73, pages 140, 142]