Summary
A anti-abortion group is running an ad featuring a woman who says she survived a failed abortion and that "if Barack Obama had his way, I wouldn't be here." She's wrong. If she'd been born in Illinois, Illinois law would have protected her with or without the "born alive" legislation that Obama opposed and that this group supports.

The Obama campaign countered with its own false ad. It accused McCain of wanting to ban abortions even in cases of rape or incest, when in fact McCain has long supported such exceptions. Obama's ad also attributes the "born alive" attack ad to McCain, when it actually was sponsored by an independent group.

Analysis
A new ad by an anti-Obama group calling itself BornAliveTruth.org features Gianna Jessen, who says that she was "born 31 years ago after a failed abortion." Jessen is speaking out against Obama's opposition to Illinois "born alive" legislation, which seeks to secure human rights and mandate medical care for fetuses who show signs of life after failed abortions, whether or not they can plausibly survive outside the womb.

BornAliveTruth.org Ad: "Gianna"
Jessen: Can you imagine not giving babies their basic human rights, no matter how they entered our world? My name's Gianna Jessen, born 31 years ago after a failed abortion. But if Barack Obama had his way, I wouldn't be here. Four times Barack Obama voted to oppose a law to protect babies left to die after failed abortions. Senator Obama, please support born alive infant protections. I'm living proof these babies have a right to live.

Announcer: BornAliveTruth.org is responsible for the content of this advertisement.

"I Wouldn't Be Here"
In the ad, Jessen says that "if Senator Obama had his way, I wouldn't be here." She's wrong. Anyone born in Illinois under the same circumstances as Jessen (who was actually born in California) would have been protected under the state's law as it stood, with or without the legislation that Obama opposed.

Jessen's mother had an abortion in her third trimester, at 29-and-a-half weeks according to Jessen's biographer. This means she had an excellent chance of surviving outside the womb. And Illinois law has long stated that if an abortion is performed when the fetus is deemed to be viable, the doctor must:

• Choose the method of abortion least likely to harm the fetus.
• Have in attendance a second doctor who can immediately take over care of the child if it's born alive.
• Use every available means to keep any born-alive child living and healthy.

To do otherwise constitutes a Class 3 felony, which carries a sentence of two to five years in prison. That's been the law in Illinois since 1975, two years before Jessen was born. What Obama voted against was legislation that would have extended the law's protection to any aborted fetus that shows any sign of life, even if doctors are certain that it cannot survive.

A review of the literature shows that fetuses are generally considered viable – that is, capable of surviving outside the womb – after 26 weeks, and sometimes even earlier. Fetuses older than 28 weeks have a good average survival rate, and one 2006 study puts the odds at 90 percent or higher. Illinois law does not specify exactly when viability occurs, but at 29-and-a-half weeks, Jessen would not have been a close call.