A late-term abortionist once accused of blatant infanticide has written a book about her experiences, arguing in a promotional interview that late-term abortion is acceptable… and that preborn children are not “babies.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Late-term abortionist Shelly Sella acknowledged that babies in the third trimester are not mere “clumps of cells,” but are only babies once they’re born.
- Sella further argued that people focus too much on the baby and his or her viability during third trimester abortions.
- She used to work with late-term abortionist George Tiller and has been accused of killing an abortion survivor.
THE DETAILS:
Abortionist Shelley Sella was one of a handful of late-term abortionists working in the United States who became notorious for their ‘work.’ Sella had a long history with the infamous late abortionist George Tiller, and later worked with abortionist Curtis Boyd at Southwestern Women’s Options in New Mexico.
Speaking to Andrea González-Ramírez for The Cut, Sella acknowledged that late-term abortions can be controversial, even among those who support abortion. Yet Sella still made sure to dehumanize the children she kills.
“A third-trimester pregnancy is not ‘a clump of cells.’ It is not ‘tissue,'” she admitted. “Although until birth it is technically a fetus, most would consider a third-trimester pregnancy a baby, and if it were born alive, it would be a baby.”
Sella relies on a half-truth here, being honest about what makes people uncomfortable about late-term abortions, while still refusing to state directly that the preborn human in the womb is unquestionably a human being.
A preborn child does not need to be born to magically become a baby; after all, in the third trimester, a preborn baby can survive outside of the womb, and is already exhibiting and practicing the behaviors he or she exhibits at birth.
She is startled by loud noises and has begun to practice breathing, her eyes produce tears, she can react to light outside of the womb, and she recognizes familiar voices. In the last month of pregnancy, she even develops individual flavor preferences based on the food her mother eats.
But Sella argued that there is too much emphasis put on the fact that preborn children can survive at the age at which she has killed them, and too much emphasis on “the fetus” in general.
She questioned, “But what about the person carrying the pregnancy? What about their capacity to continue the pregnancy and raise a child? What about their life?”
She added:
I think that this focus on the fetus got carried over into the public’s discourse on abortion and into the reproductive-rights discourse.
There has always been discomfort with abortions later in pregnancy that’s led to an unwillingness to talk about more complicated situations.
It’s true that situations may be, as Sella describes it, “complicated.” But surely we can provide better answers to complicated situations than death. Women need support and resources so that they know there are other options that do not include killing an innocent child. As one recent study pointed out, most women have conflicting feelings about getting an abortion, with over half reporting they would have preferred to give birth if they had the resources and support to do so.
But then, if women are given that support, people like Sella might be out of a job — and a lucrative one, at that. As former clinic worker and owner Carol Everett previously said, “Abortion is a skillfully marketed product sold to a woman when she needs help.”
In another recent interview promoting her book, Sella said those seeking third-trimester abortions are “the most desperate” and claimed they may have a fetal diagnosis or “difficult life circumstances.” In the clip, she says she wishes people would “open their hearts” to the “most marginalized” who allegedly “need” to kill their preborn children so late in pregnancy:
THE BACKSTORY:
Sella was one of four abortionists featured in the film “After Tiller,” which openly praised late-term abortionists as heroes. Along with Sella, the film spotlighted Warren Hern, Susan Robinson, and LeRoy Carhart as the last four late-term abortionists in the country. Prior to Tiller’s murder, Sella worked in his facility and trained with him; Tiller served as a mentor to her. After Tiller died, Sella relocated to Southwestern Women’s Options (SWO) in New Mexico, a late-term abortion facility previously owned by Boyd.
In 2008, nurse Tina David, who worked at Tiller’s facility, accused Sella of infanticide:
Well, my job, like I said, my job was to hold the leg and count the parts, if it was in pieces.
And this was… maybe 35 weeks. That’s pretty big….It was a big baby…. [the] baby came out, and it was moving. I don’t know if it was alive or if it was nerves, I have no clue.
But Dr. Sella looked up right away at me and took a utensil and stabbed it, right here, and twisted.
And then it didn’t move anymore.
Sella’s medical disciplinary history includes multiple malpractice suits filed on behalf of patients who were injured or killed.
Though Southwestern Women’s Options was responsible for the death of Keisha Atkins after a second-trimester abortion, Sella was not the abortionist responsible in that case. However, she was at fault in the case of Atkins’ sister Nichole, who was repeatedly drugged over a period of several days by Sella, who committed an induction abortion, using misoprostol and digoxin, though Nicole was only 17 weeks pregnant.
The reason why later became clear: documents indicated that Nichole Atkins’ baby was given to the University of New Mexico (UNM). SWO had partnered with the University of New Mexico (UNM) for its research program — which specifically sought “digoxin treated brain.” The most common second-trimester abortion procedure is a dilation and extraction (D&E) procedure, in which the preborn baby is dismembered — not an induction abortion with use of digoxin.
Nichole Atkins had not consented to her baby’s body or organs to be donated. On top of this, Nicole’s procedure was badly botched, with Sella’s cervical dilators causing such pronounced lacerations that Nichole had to have a hysterectomy.
Sella, along with other abortionists at SWO, experimented on hundreds of women, combining abortion drugs with surgical late-term abortion procedures in an effort to speed up the process. Numerous women were injured.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Today, Sella is retired from committing abortions, which is seemingly why she is now involved with pro-abortion advocacy instead. Unfortunately, pro-abortion media outlets are unlikely to disclose Sella’s full history, allowing her to promote abortion on demand with virtually no pushback.
