Later abortion isn’t live birth
[This article is a transcript of “Later abortion isn’t live birth” courtesy of volunteer Ben Tomlin. If you’re interested in volunteering to transcribe more of our content, please complete our volunteer survey.]
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When I talk about post-viability abortions, a lot of pro-choice people claim those only happen for medical emergencies, meaning either the woman’s life is in danger or the fetus has some kind of fatal genetic abnormality. This is a myth, a pleasant fiction to help pro-choice people be comfortable with their stance.
The reality is that there are multiple places in the country where people can get abortions at any stage of pregnancy for any reason. We have plenty of evidence to show that they will get abortions after viability on healthy fetuses carried by healthy women for no medical emergency, but at least the people claiming that later abortions are all for medical emergencies acknowledge that later abortions happen.
Sometimes I see a more ridiculous pro-choice claim like this one right here: there’s no such thing as abortions after viability at all, so it’s not just that they only happen for medical emergencies, it’s that they don’t happen, and abortions after viability are just induction of labor with the intent and the result of live birth. That is a complete fabrication.
Abortion after viability is done by injecting feticide into the heart or into the amniotic fluid, or by cutting the umbilical cord, all before extraction in order to ensure fetal demise. And you don’t have to take my word for it. Abortion providers will tell you this themselves.
This article printed in the Boston Review, “Why I Provide Abortions,” is a good example. The entire article is worth reading, but in particular I want to draw your attention to this passage where the author, who is an abortion provider, says, “Imagine a woman in her third trimester, thirty or even forty weeks pregnant.” The author points out that the woman is visibly pregnant at this point. There’s no option for a private abortion because her social circles know she’s pregnant.
The author argues that if the woman seeks an abortion at this stage, it will be for various serious reasons, although not necessarily for health-related reasons. But my main point is this quote right here: “If a woman decides to proceed with an abortion after twenty-four weeks, she must accept the terms: that she will deliver a baby, and that baby will be dead.” At that late stage in pregnancy, there’s no getting around childbirth. The fetus is too large to remove without going through labor and delivery.
This may be why a lot of people believe that this is just birth and not abortion, because childbirth has to happen either way. And so why not go through childbirth and delivery (if you have to do that either way) for a live birth, with the intent of the child surviving? That’s a great question, and people who support abortion should think about that.
Because post-viability abortion is not about induction of labor with intent or result of live birth. Post-viability abortion is about making sure the fetus is dead and then laboring and delivering a dead child.
If you’re pro-choice because you think this is all about bodily autonomy and not letting anyone use your body against your will, please think about that. She’s restoring her bodily rights by going through labor and delivery either way. Abortion is not just about restoring her bodily rights. It’s about making sure the child is dead.
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