COLUMN RIGHT/ SUSAN CARPENTER McMILLAN : Baby Ana--an Abortion That Failed : Time for a truce--no abortions past the fourth month, except to save the mother’s life.

It was a typical New York day two years ago last October when a young, rather shy, immigrant woman entered the clinic on Ninth Avenue. Rosa Rodriguez was 7 1/2 months pregnant and wanted an abortion.

The baby lay quietly secure, peaceful and innocent in her increasingly cramped world, when suddenly a torturous instrument of death locked itself around her tiny arm. It began pulling, then twisting, yanking, turning and finally pulling the entire arm from its socket.

No one will ever know for sure just how much pain the baby suffered, but mercifully, Dr. Abu Hayat stopped the abortion and sent Rodriguez home. Hours later, in great pain, Rodriguez went to a local hospital, where she gave birth to a baby girl with only one arm.

Late last month, Hayat was found guilty on charges relating to the attempted abortion and is to be sentenced Monday. Ana Rodriguez, now a happy, radiant toddler, has touched the hearts of New Yorkers while at the same time, her story has outraged them. “How could such a brutal, barbaric thing happen here in America?” people ask.

In 1973, the Supreme Court handed down a decision legalizing abortion called Roe vs. Wade, and a companion decision called Doe vs. Bolton. The decisions broke pregnancy up into three sections. The first through the third month was referred to as the first trimester, the third through the sixth month was the second trimester and the sixth through the ninth month was called the third trimester. No restrictions were placed on abortions in the first trimester; limited restrictions were placed on the second trimester, concerning only the woman, not the baby. And in the third trimester, a woman could get an abortion for only two reasons: life of the mother and health of the mother.

Sounds reasonable until you research the categories allowed under “health.” There are five, but I’ll name just three--psychological, emotional and familial . In other words, your family status is a qualification for a late-term abortion. In the case of Rosa Rodriguez, Hayat did not state the reason for the abortion, rendering the procedure illegal. Had Hayat stated the reason in his medical file, given the wide latitude under the five categories, no jury in the country could have found him guilty, in my opinion.

The true irony of this tragic story, however, is that had Hayat been successful in his abortion attempt, leaving the baby dead, no one would have said a word. It would have been just another woman exercising her right to choose. But because little Ana survived and was left mutilated, people are angry.

What kind of a schizophrenic society do we live in that allows a doctor to perform an abortion up until the hour of birth, then turns around and punishes the same doctor if the baby survives and is left disfigured? Ronald J. Veneziano, Hayat’s lawyer, said last week that they will appeal the convictions based on Roe vs. Wade, in which the court held that the fetus (unborn) is not a person, and if you are not a person, you cannot be injured. It may sound unbelievable, but legal experts in the field of abortion concur.

Abortion has been a bitterly divisive issue across this country for the last 20 years, and--since modern technology is allowing a baby to survive earlier and earlier into the pregnancy--Roe vs. Wade is being forced into a collision course with modern medicine.

It seems to me that we should revisit the issue of late-term abortions. In poll after poll, most Americans support some restrictions on abortion, but also want to keep early abortions legal. So whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, can we not all agree that abortions after the fourth month should be completely outlawed, except to save the life of the mother?

Hayat was not only convicted of ripping off Baby Rodriguez’s arm, but he was also found guilty of performing an incomplete abortion on a second woman whom he forced to leave the hospital bleeding and semi-conscious after he had dismembered her baby and left the body parts in the mother’s womb.

As a woman, I am sickened by these atrocities. But as a mother, my heart goes out to Rosa Rodriguez when the day finally comes that she is forced to explain to her little girl why she only has one arm. And what will she say when Ana looks her straight in the eyes and asks, “Mommy, why did you try to have me killed?”