# Thoughts on Late Term Abortions **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 3, 2003, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-late-term-abortions/179330 "2003-06-03T09:43:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Edlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8797f3/32.png) [@Edlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edlyn)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-late-term-abortions/179330/41 "2003-06-07T01:38:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrazyCatLady \* > \*\*Why would she go into massive debt for something she doesn’t want, and in fact is trying to get rid of? _She_ wanted to have an abortion, remember? It’s everyone else who is squawking about her having a C-section instead. \*\* Because she (they) created the situation. Not you, not me, not the baby in question. And why are you asking such questions during a discussion of late term abortions? Are you making huge allowances for someone so irresponsible that not only did she get an unwanted pregnancy, but she also didn’t seek an abortion in the first trimester? > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrazyCatLady \* > The mother clearly has no intentions of taking care of it or its huge medical bills, so we can either let it die of neglect, or someone else can step in and shoulder the burden. If there are birth defects or other factors that make adoption unlikely, who takes care of the baby you’ve insisted be brought into the world? Who loves it and takes care of it and pays for its stay in the NICU? Sorry, but no mother should dump and run from her responsibility with no accountability on her part. If she wants to give the child up for adoption, she should. There are individuals in the world who love children and care about them regardless of a birth defect. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Czarcasm_ > But that’s the point, don’t you see? If they can’t make abortion illegal, they will try to make it as inconvenient, expensive and dangerous as possible. > > With love in their hearts, of course. The discussion is late term abortion, not abortion in general. Some would consider that a huge difference. In the case of late term, yes, it should be illegal. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrazyCatLady \* > More common are conditions which will kill the fetus, but aren’t detected till 7 or 8 months. Specifically, I’m thinking about hydrocephalus or anencephaly. With these conditions, the baby has absolutely zero chance of survival if carried to term and delivered. In that case, I have no problems whatsoever with making the ending of the pregnancy as non-traumatic as possible for the woman. I think a note of correction should be mentioned here concerning hydrocephalus. Though it can be potentially life threatening, to say a child with it has zero chance of survival in not correct. It depends on how much fluid is in the brain. It’s possible that a smaller amount can be reabsorbed or a shunt put in place to correct the situation. Brain damage is not necessarily a result of having had hydrocephalus. Our little grandson, Dawson, had two bouts with this as a result of a brain tumor. A late term abortion because of anencephaly will not lessen the trauma of losing a child. She will add to it, in fact. She will always know that the baby did not die naturally and the brutal violence of the late term abortion was the last experience her child had. I understand that the thought it would be less traumatic is borne from kind intentions. **tanookie** I’ll keep you in my thoughts and congrats on your coming arrival! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-late-term-abortions/179330/42 "2003-06-08T02:33:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrazyCatLady \* > \*\*Well, there are things like eclampsia, which often doesn’t show up until the last trimester. > > More common are conditions which will kill the fetus, but aren’t detected till 7 or 8 months. Specifically, I’m thinking about hydrocephalus or anencephaly. With these conditions, the baby has absolutely zero chance of survival if carried to term and delivered. In that case, I have no problems whatsoever with making the ending of the pregnancy as non-traumatic as possible for the woman. > > I guess, technically, an anencephalic fetus _doesn’t_ have a CNS, since the brain is a fairly essential part of the nervous system. \*\* You know that hydrocephalus isn’t always fatal, right? If it one of my former preschool students would be really surprised to hear that. He doesn’t even seem to have suffered any brain damage at all from it. (I have a second cousin who did suffer brain damage, but only because the doctors didn’t notice the probably until days after a shunt should have been put in) Anecephatic babies though, that’s another case entirely. Do they often survive to late pregnancy? Both of the women know who were going to have babies with it sponantiously miscarried before the 3rd trimester. Small sample size, admittedly. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-late-term-abortions/179330/43 "2003-06-08T02:37:05Z")
grrrr. " If it **was,**" “didn’t notice the **probability** ” ---
**Author:** ![bo989](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@bo989](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bo989)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-late-term-abortions/179330/44 "2003-06-08T07:31:48Z")
If the gore of puncturing the skull and destroying the brain is too much for some people (as, admittedly it is for me) why don’t doctors chose a more ‘humane’ way of terminating a late-term pregnancy? Why not something similar to how a dog or cat is put down? Now, I’m not a doctor, but there must be a more ‘emotionally appealing’ way of getting rid of the baby? ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-late-term-abortions/179330/45 "2003-06-09T16:31:37Z")
When it comes to termination of a fetus, “humane” takes a back seat to “make absolutely sure”. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-late-term-abortions/179330/46 "2003-06-09T19:11:00Z")
The way I see it, late term abortions will be done for one of 3 possible reasons, “nonviable baby”, “medical risk” and “I don’t want it”. IN the case of nonviable baby, I’m not sure what would be gained by birthing vs. abortion, seems like a bit of a non issue to me. In the case of medical risk, I assume the mother would _prefer_ to have a healthy baby, and would choose early birth/caesarian to an abortion if it were a reasonable option. Considering how invasive late term abortions are, I hardly think they will often be the only option. In the case of “I don’t want it”, I believe the mother should decide before the fetus becomes viable. You’ve got a few months to choose, so choose already! The idea that a viable fetus will be destroyed because the mother procrastinated is just sickening. If you can’t decide, have the baby and give it up for adoption. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-late-term-abortions/179330/47 "2003-06-09T20:16:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Edlyn \* > Sorry, but no mother should dump and run from her responsibility with no accountability on her part. If she wants to give the child up for adoption, she should. There are individuals in the world who love children and care about them regardless of a birth defect. You’re absolutely right! How dare we forget dumping and running without accountability is solely the province of fathers, not mothers. Sorry, that was tired, but so is making the uterus owner solely responsible for the condition. I cannot imagine any situation where I or anyone I know would seek a late-term abortion. Barring some extreme circumstances with emergency health issues, any woman that would knowingly choose to go through 7+ months of pregnancy and then seek a termination can be conservately called not the most responsible chick, right? Evil, irresponsible and unfathomable are usually the adjectives I hear to describe said examples. So, if both sides agree these folks suck in general, it follows logically that they’d be the worst possible parent maybe? The cynic in me says let them abort at will, better to hurt their children only once than for a lifetime. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-late-term-abortions/179330.md?page=2)