What does an abortion look like at 15 weeks gestation?

15 weeks gestation

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As the Supreme Court gears up to hear the case of Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization this fall regarding Mississippi’s restriction on abortion at 15 weeks gestation, Americans should be aware both of the advanced development of a preborn child at 15 weeks (read here) and the procedure most often used to end the lives of preborn children at 15 weeks.

The majority of Americans already want abortion restricted to the first trimester, which is what Mississippi’s law does. The law states that 15 weeks was chosen as the time limit for two main reasons:

  • Abortion’s physical risks to women increase as the gestational age of her preborn child increases. (Read more about that here.)
  • The most commonly used form of abortion in the second trimester is the violent D&E abortion procedure, also known as dismemberment abortion.

Warning: Graphic images below.

What is a D&E abortion? 

A D&E abortion is the most commonly used second-trimester abortion procedure — and also the most brutally violent — between weeks 13 and 24 of pregnancy. It involves first dilating the mother’s cervix about 24 to 48 hours ahead of the final steps of the procedure. During the second part of the abortion, a suction machine removes the amniotic fluid from the uterus and then the abortionist uses a Sopher clamp to grasp the arms and legs of the preborn child and tear each limb from her torso. He then tears apart the delicate baby’s torso, removing the spine and organs before grasping her skull and crushing it.

This involves no small amount of force as the baby’s gestational age increases. Abortionist DeShawn Taylor joked on undercover video that she needed to “hit the gym” to gain the strength needed to commit the dismemberment procedure.

“The abortionist knows he has crushed the skull when a white substance comes out of the cervix,” explained former abortionist, Dr. Anthony Levatino, in a video at AbortionProcedures.com. “This was the baby’s brains. The abortionist then removes skull pieces.”


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Once the abortionist scrapes out the mother’s uterus in an attempt to ensure all body parts and placenta are removed, an abortion worker or the abortionist pieces the baby back together like a puzzle, to ensure that there are two legs, two arms, and all other body parts accounted for. Any body parts left inside the uterus can cause infection and possibly death for the mother.

As is evident in the video above, a D&E abortion is inhumane and cruel. And as they say, pictures speak louder than words.

Face of an aborted baby at 21 weeks (D&E procedure).

Remains of a baby aborted by D&E. From Citizens for a Pro-Life Society

Women who have later learned what was done to their babies have been devastated.

“[…] I realized that my babies did in fact suffer and that yes, they struggled. They suffered as they struggled and fought to stay with their Mommy that day… Even as I was trying to let them go,” Dana, whose triplets died by a D&E abortion, told photographer Angela Forker for the After the Abortion photography series. “They still wanted their Mommy.”

Can the preborn child feel pain at 15 weeks?

A D&E abortion is inhumane, and according to recent research, preborn children are likely to feel pain by or even before the end of the first trimester. According to The Endowment for Human Development, by nine weeks post-fertilization (11 weeks after the mother’s last menstrual period), a preborn child’s face, hands, and feet are sensitive even to light touch. These children are certainly able to feel the pain of a clamp grasping and tearing off their leg or arm.

Despite these facts, whether or not the child can feel pain at any point during pregnancy is, in a way, irrelevant. There are born individuals who are unable to feel pain. The inability to feel pain does not strip a human being of her humanity, and it is always morally wrong to kill an innocent human being.

READ: ‘No place in civilized society’: The truth about abortions at 15 weeks

What happens to the baby’s body?

It’s hard to imagine what has become of the bodies of the 65 million babies killed by abortion in the United States since 1973. So where did they all go?

Some bodies have been thrown in dumpsters and others flushed down toilets and drains. Many are thrown into hazardous waste bins while others are stored in freezers for lengthy periods of time. In Oregon, the bodies of aborted children have been burned to create electricity and in the case of abortionist Ulrich “George” Klopfer, more than 2,200 bodies were stored in his garage until his death in 2019. Other bodies have been parceled out for research and experimentation.

Mississippi’s attempt to restrict abortion to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy was carefully considered for justifiable reasons. An abortion at 15 weeks is inhumane and also comes with significant risks for women.

Read more here to learn what a human being at 15 weeks in the womb looks like.

“Like” Live Action News on Facebook for more pro-life news and commentary!

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views the Virginia Christian Alliance

About the Author

Live Action
Live Action was started in 2003, by one 15-year-old girl, Lila Rose, in her family’s living room – with the goal to expose what abortion does to the preborn child.  Lila worked with friends to make pro-life presentations to groups and shine a light on the reality of abortion.  Lila started undercover investigations in 2006, while at UCLA.  She was 18 at the time. In 2008, Live Action was legally formed as a non-partisan, non-profit organization. Later that year, with a few of her friends, Lila created and produced the first nationally televised undercover investigation of the abortion industry. Live Action exists today to shift public opinion on the killing of preborn children and defend the rights of these most vulnerable among us. Through compelling educational media, human interest storytelling, and investigative reporting, we reveal the humanity of the preborn and expose the abortion industry exploiting women for profit. With the largest and most engaged online following in the pro-life movement, Live Action is leading the transformation to end this grave human rights abuse.