SENATE BILL: Late-Term Abortion Restriction Act (On the President's Desk)

[afleitch]

May I remind the Senate that according to the available data only 1.4% of terminations take place after 21 weeks (the beginning of the 'grey area' with regard to viability) and that the estimated number of terminations taking place after 24 weeks is 0.08%. The number of terminations taking place after 28 weeks (bearing in mind the exponential decline in abortions after the first trimster) is likely to be about 0.03-0.04% equating to less than several hundred in any one year. There is very little evidence that terminations of pregancies taking place after 28 weeks are taken for reasons other than for the exempted reasons outlined in the bill above (deformity, threats to health)

In effect the bill will effectively 'save' either no pregnancies to a handful. The impact is minimal.

[afleitch]

My point is as the procedure is so rare that with a restriction in the law and the possibility of a penalty it makes the 'call' on whether to perform third trimester abortions a more difficult one for a doctor and a women to make. How do you judge 'threat to life'? The change in the law doesn't bother me too much, I just think it is unnecessary given how few are performed.