Gallup Poll: Most Americans identify as pro-choice and believe abortion is 'morally acceptable'

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10. Banning abortion in the second and third trimesters is a problem.

Many tests to detect fetal abnormalities cannot be done until around 20 weeks. That’s when tests show issues with brain development and various organs. The 15-week limit thus prevents the abortion of fetuses that cannot live outside the womb or have severe abnormalities.

The other major reason that abortions happen in the second trimester is that states have so many barriers to getting an abortion that it takes months to save the money, find a clinic, arrange for child care since many women seeking an abortion already have children, and arrange for time off work. That will only get worse with Roe v. Wade being overturned because women will have to travel to another state.

Fewer than 1% of abortions happen in the third trimester, and those are usually for severe abnormalities or risks to the woman’s health and life. Definitive brain development tests usually take place in the third trimester when the fetus has developed further. It is anomalies at this stage that often lead to third trimester abortions. Plus, fetuses do die in the womb, risking potentially fatal infection for the woman without an abortion. For these reasons, I am against limits on when an abortion can take place. The Republican lie that women have elective abortions when the baby is ready to be born is especially pernicious because those happen when there are serious health or life risks for the woman. These are medical decisions and should be made by doctors, not the government.