Introduction
The main question raised among abortion-rights advocates is why women would want to undergo this procedure after 20 weeks of gestation. For a long time, advocates asserted that abortions at this stage in pregnancy are done because of maternal health complications or anomalies that were identified late.
Discussion
However, recent studies comparing data from both the medical literature and other providers show that the majority of the cases are done for the same reasons as those done during the first trimester. For example, financial constraints, broken relationships, and education concerns. A majority of abortions(91%) are done in week 13, while 77.% are done between week 14 and 20 (Studnicki, 2019). Only 1,2% of abortions are done at or after the 21st week (Studnicki, 2019).
Late-term abortions should be banned completely unless it is a medical emergency, as they are high risk and even lead to the death of the woman.
Late-term abortion is a medically wrong phrase, as late-term pregnancy refers to beyond 41 weeks gestation. With a human pregnancy expected to last for 40 weeks, at 41 weeks the child is already born, which means late-term abortion is impossible. However, it is a layman’s phrase used to mean abortion beyond 20 weeks (Chalabi, 2019). The numerous complications and short- and long-term health risks associated with late-term abortions have raised objections even among people who support abortions. As a result, many states in the United States have banned abortion after 24 weeks, while others seek to have the limits reduced further. For instance, the “heartbeat” ban suggests that abortion should be prohibited once any cardiac activity of the fetus can be detected. This can be as early as 6 weeks gestation (Kimport, 2022). States against late-term abortion propose most bans using the rationale of fetal pain.
At 20 weeks gestation, the heart is developed and beating, the brain has begun to form, the human-like shape is already forming and one can determine the sex of the child. From my point of view, this is already a living human being, worthy of all the rights as stated in the constitution. Abortions performed beyond 20 weeks gestation are done by inducing labor, which causes the death of the fetus, or through dilation and evacuation (Wessberg et al., 2020). These procedures are gruesome as they involve the crushing and dismemberment of the fetus before being removed from its mother’s uterus (Wessberg et al., 2020). Other times when it is beyond viability, the doctor administers a lethal injection into the fetal heart to ensure it is dead before being pulled out. This morally feels wrong and inhumane as it already is a life being terminated, and it undergoes immense torture before its death and removal.
Conclusion
In conclusion, late-term abortion is the least form of abortion in the United States at 1.2% of all reported abortions. Late-term abortion is associated with high-risk complications for the mother and inhumane treatment of the unborn child. Supporting late-stage abortion for any other reason other than convenience is an injustice to the unborn child. There is an immense violation of the child’s rights if abortion is to be done after 20 weeks of gestation. I do not entirely feel that the woman would face a violation of her rights other than autonomy. This means that there is more violation of rights against the unborn viable fetus than there is for the mother. Therefore, more states should ban late-term abortion based on the rule of majority ethical violations.
References
Chalabi, M. (2019). The truth about late-term abortions in the US: they’re very rare. The Guardian. Web.
Kimport, K. (2022). Less than 1% of abortions take place in the third trimester – here’s why people get them. The Conversation. Web.
Studnicki, J. (2019). Late-Term Abortion and Medical Necessity: A Failure of Science.Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology, 6, 233339281984178. Web.
Wessberg, A., Lundgren, I., & Elden, H. (2020). Late-term pregnancy: Navigating in unknown waters — A hermeneutic study.Women and Birth, 33(3), 265–272. Web.