Late Term abortions. I hear the conservative right using this as a moral stick with which to beat the left. How DARE they allow late term abortion?!

...Well what do you think a late term abortion is? Think about it for a moment...
Do you think a woman is carrying her pregnancy to 6 or 8 months and saying " Actually no, i don't want this baby, i'll have an abortion" ?

No.
If a woman is carrying a pregnancy that far likely wants that child or at least intends to carry it to term.
Late term abortions occur in cases where either there are unsurvivable defects to the developing child or life threatening complications for the mother.

So my question: Under those circumstances, how can you reasonably and ethically object to the legality of late term abortions?

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emiliya · 22-25, F

How do you know why she is aborting her baby late term?

If she does not have to provide a reason, she can have an abortion at any time, and it could be because she doesn't want him or her. It is wrong for a woman to be in later stages of pregnancy and change her mind about having her baby, depriving her poor child of life.

Pikachu

@emiliya

Because she DOES have to provide a reason or the doctors will not do it!
Or to be more accurate, the DOCTORS will be the ones informing the mother that either the pregnancy is unviable or that her life is at risk.

So quite apart from the illogical notion that a woman late in pregnancy just goes " Actually...nahhh", these kinds of abortions are literally only possible with under medical necessity.

emiliya · 22-25, F

@Pikachu A late termination of pregnancy “often refers to an induced ending of pregnancy after the 20th week of gestation, i.e. after a fetal age (time since conception) of about 18 weeks.”

In USA, the following states allow abortion after 18 weeks:

Nevada
Massachusetts
Kansas
New York
New Hampshire
Pennsylvania
Vermont
Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Ohio
New Jersey
New Mexico
Michigan
Maryland
Maine
Montana
Illinois
Connecticut
Delaware
Colorado
California
Oregon
Rhode Island
Washington
Alaska
Utah (18 weeks)

Several of these states are very permissive and allow abortion at any stage. Doctors in all of these states can abort a fetus after 18 weeks if they accept a woman's desire to abort.

Pikachu

@emiliya

Wrong.
Doctors in those states can perform a medically necessary abortion, not just if a woman wants.
But you're already arguing a fraction of a fraction of abortions.

emiliya · 22-25, F

@Pikachu If a doctor wants to, he can give the woman an abortion without it being medically necessary.

The number of late term abortions that happen are not relevant. Doctors can provide abortions at these stages, and some do.

Pikachu

@emiliya

, he can give the woman an abortion without it being medically necessary.

Source? Can yo give me a citation on that?
That a doctor can provide a late term abortion when there is no risk to the mother or the pregnancy is totally viable?

And once again, why do you think women are carrying a pregnancy almost to term and then just deciding to abort?
I won't say that, that is a non-zero number but at that stage, virtually every woman is intending to carry that pregnancy to term. It's not some sort of birth control, it's a goddamn tragedy to the mother.
Show a little respect and empathy for that.