Ok, I'm late to the game, but I just listened to part of the Republican YouTube debate, and I'm shocked.
Paul: I'm an OB doctor and I practiced medicine for 30 years and I of course never saw one time when a medically necessary abortion had to be done. But, uh, I think it certainly is a crime but I uh also understand the difficulties. I think when you're talking about third trimester deliberate abortion and partial birth abortion...
That's all I need to know to understand that either Ron Paul wasn't an obstetrician, or at the very least he was a terrible one.
I'm 23 years old, and have no children (3 miscarriages in 9 months, so I'm not totally lacking in experience). Most of my friends don't have children, but some do. I probably know 10 or 15 people with children well enough to know their birth history. Of these, 3 have had medically necessary abortions. 3 out of 15, and I met them all in the same year. So this is hardly a lifetime of experience.
In 30 years, Ron Paul is saying that he has never once seen a case of severe pre-eclampsia, which can lead to stroke and death. In 30 years, Ron Paul has never once seen hemorrhaging from placental abruption. In 30 years, Ron Paul has never once seen an ectopic pregnancy, which occurs 1% of the time.
My own OB, who does not perform elective abortions, has a picture in her office of a 13 week ectopic fetus which she removed because it almost killed the mother.
Unless Ron Paul only dealt with 3rd trimester healthy women, which would be incredibly unlikely, he has either had a ridiculously small practice, or he's outright lying.
Moreover, elective 3rd trimester abortions pretty much don't happen. Only 1% of abortions occur after the 20th week of pregnancy, which is still well within the 2nd trimester. Regardless, at that late of a stage the vast vast vast majority of abortions are medically necessary (pre-eclampsia, excessive bleeding, etc.)
Lastly, partial birth abortion doesn't exist, never has, never will. It's not a medical term, and as a doctor it is fundamentally dishonest for Paul to use it. PBA most probably refers to intact dilation and extraction, which was primarily used in medical emergency or birth defects incompatible with life, such as hydroencephaly or anencephaly (no brain). It was never done "for fun," as the right wingers would have people believe.
I must conclude from this statement that Ron Paul is a bald faced liar, a terrible doctor with defunct practice, or has killed many many women. Perhaps all 3.