this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
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Public Freakout
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How often does this happen in America? How many abortions are performed where a fully viable fetus is removed in pieces?
We should just give Americans complimentary abortions if they travel overseas. Pretty sure it wouldn't be too much of a dent to global public healthcare systems.
"In the United States, more than one half of pregnancies are unintended, with 3 in 10 women having an abortion by age 45 years 1. In 2008, 1.2 million abortions occurred in the United States, of which 6.2% took place between 13 weeks of gestation and 15 weeks of gestation, and 4.0% took place at 16 weeks of gestation or later 2 3. Only 1.3% of abortions are performed at 21 weeks of gestation or later."
From a quick Google search, so 1.3% of the 1.2 million 2008 abortions would be 15,600. Viability is generally ranged around 20+ weeks, I think google says 24ish, some premature babies are born earlier but are significantly more rare the further you get away from 20+ weeks.
Late-term abortions are nearly always due to serious complications that endanger both mother and fetus, or in cases where the fetus is already non-viable or braindead. You are proposing forcing mothers to risk their lives to give birth to dead fetuses. Educate yourself instead of parroting conservative propaganda.
The vast majority of those abortions performed after 21 weeks are due to medical issues and fetal non-viability. Women who make it to 20+ weeks of pregnancy virtually always want the baby, and an abortion is an incredibly sad and heartbreaking medical necessity at that point. I know someone who had to have a later abortion of a very much wanted child because the fetus didn't develop a brain.
And I know someone who, due to conservative propaganda, gave birth to a child without a brain. They attempted to keep it alive and it actually lasted a few weeks before dying. It was awful.
You didn't answer what they asked. They asked how often is a baby killed right in the moment before birth. I think this is a bit of disconnect when thinking about what abortion is. Abortion is ending pregnancy. If a woman is giving birth, the pregnancy is ending. There's no "abortion" how you're thinking about it.
The abortions after 20 weeks are for the fetuses that have severe defects that we can't detect before the anatomy scan. With our current technology we cannot detect these defects before 20 weeks. It's impossible. These fetuses are the ones who don't have a brain, whose brain stems are exposed, whose organs fused with the placenta, whose hearts never develop, etc. There's not many of each type of deformity, but when you add them up, they account for "late term abortions". And just as an fyi that is not a medical term. It's a political one.