# Why do people get late term abortions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 23, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529 "2006-03-23T02:09:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/41 "2006-03-24T05:22:08Z")
I forgot to mention cases of hourglassed membranes where the amniotic sac passes through the cervix and fills the vagina. I had that at 18 weeks and delivered in the 23rd week which went far beyond the gestation Doctors expected. ---
**Author:** ![hildea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ebca7d/32.png) [@hildea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hildea)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/42 "2006-03-24T07:24:50Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > I don’t think 12 weeks would count as “later term” by most medical standards, I guess Norway may be an exception. As mention by a previous poster, the CDC considers ‘late term’ to be 21 weeks or over. Fair enough. The Norwegian statistics deal with a 12 week limit because here, if you want an abortion later than that, the abortion has to be approved by a “nemnd” (whatever that is in English. I guess “comittee” comes kind of close, although it doesn’t quite fit) consisting of two doctors. (Doctors who don’t do abortions because of their personal ethics can’t participate in these desicions.) In other words, it’s a legal standard, not a medical one. This is, needless to say, somewhat controversial here, although the law has been in place since 1978, so the debate isn’t all that active. One of the arguments I’ve heard against a 12 week limit is that it may lead to more abortions – a pregnant woman who is in doubt may feel stampeded to choose abortion before the time for elective abortion runs out. I’m not in favour of this law myself. > [@AHunter3](#): > > I think “she wanted one, end of story” is sufficient to establish that she has sufficient reason to obtain one with the least hassle possible, but I didn’t mean to imply that it is in some way improper for someone to have curiosity and simply want to know why someone would want an abortion but only seek one so late in the game. I definitively agree. Another reason to look into reasons for abortion (both late and early ones) is to see if there’s something that can be done to decrease the number of abortions. Not, of course, by making abortion more difficult to get, but by trying to change some of the societal factors that lead to it. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/43 "2006-03-24T08:16:11Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Presumably, there are reasons that compell one to want a late term abortion. Also, presumably, if I want to learn more about the way the world works then I am justified in investigating such phenomena as interest me. For you to tell me that certain areas are of limits is arrogant. Who are you to limit my quest for knowledge? I took the referenced **AHunter3** post to be _one_ response to your OP question: _why do women get late term abortions?_, not the _only_ one. That your initial reaction is that you don’t consider this answer to be a legitmate response implies that the reasoning “because she wants to” is not reasoning enough. If I understand correctly, your complaint is that the “wants” has to come from somewhere, be based on something, and **AHunter3** did not address that. But the underlyig point of **AHunter3** ’s post, as I saw it, was to point out how no outside entity can truly evaluate or even describe the myriad of physical, emotional, and social reasons that might go into the decision to undergo what (I assume) is both a physically and emotionally painful procedure. The number of possible reasons are so many as it is not possible to list them here (although certainly other posters have provided some very thought-provoking ones), so it all essentially comes down to the woman carrying the child having to evaluate her unique circumstance and making the proper decison - for her, her unborn child, her family and her community - given all of her options. The basis of late-term (or, really, _any_) abortion legislation is that there is some way to objectively evaluate the term of a pregnancy and determine a universal border line after which abortions should be forbidden. But as we have seen above, individual circumstances can vary so widely, that such legal border lines will unfairly exclude some people’s circumstances. The key to reducing late-term abortions (I believe everyone would agree that reducing abortions in general would be a good thing) is to reduce the need for them by increasing information about and access to safe and reliable birth control, family planning programs, adoption agencies, counseling, pre- and post- natal care, well-baby programs, affordable medical insurance, and so forth. I know that’s a little off-topic, but it’s kind of where the question “why do woman have late-term abortions?” leads. Women have them, because for one reason or another, it was not or could not be prevented. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/44 "2006-03-24T08:22:29Z")
> [@vaderspal](#): > > I took the referenced **AHunter3** post to be _one_ response to your OP question: _why do women get late term abortions?_, (snip) Er…by “your” OP, I meant **This space intentionally blank** ’s OP, of course. And, that’s “underlying.” time for bed… ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/45 "2006-03-24T13:52:05Z")
[“In the vast majority of cases, the procedure is performed on a healthy mother with a healthy fetus that is 20 weeks or more along. The abortion-rights folks know it, the anti-abortion folks know it, and so, probably, does everyone else.”](http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=3399&department=CWA&categoryid=life) — Ron Fitzsimmons Executive Director for the National Coalition of Abortion Providers The New York Times, February 26, 1997 [quote] [In 1987, In 1987. women who have later-term abortions – 16 weeks or more since last menstrual period – give a variety of reasons for their decision. This appears to be the most recent data available. It was republished in a report by Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health (PRCH) & The Guttmacher Institute (AGI) in 2005, Women gave an average of 2.2 reasons for a late-term abortion:](http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_why.htm) [ul][li] 71% did not recognize that she was pregnant. [/li][li] 48% had difficulty arranging for an abortion; it took time to raise the money; they had to first get a Medicaid card; they couldn’t arrange transportation, etc. [/li][li] 33% were afraid to tell parents or partner of the pregnancy. [/li][li] 24% needed time to make a decision. [/li] [li]8% hoped that a bad relationship would change. [/li] [li]8% felt pressure to not have an abortion. [/li] [li]6% had some major change during the pregnancy. [/li] [li]6% did not know that timing was important. [/li] [li]5% did not know that she could get an abortion. [/li] [li]2% found out late in pregnancy that the fetus had an abnormality. [/li] [li]11% gave other reasons. [/ul][/li][/quote] Reasons for late-term abortion are usually not medical. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/46 "2006-03-24T14:07:14Z")
> [@vaderspal](#): > > I took the referenced **AHunter3** post to be _one_ response to your OP question: _why do women get late term abortions?_, not the _only_ one. That your initial reaction is that you don’t consider this answer to be a legitmate response implies that the reasoning “because she wants to” is not reasoning enough. If I understand correctly, your complaint is that the “wants” has to come from somewhere, be based on something, and **AHunter3** did not address that. No, my complaint was being told that one particular answer is all I ever need to know. That pretty much seems to me to be saying “this is the only answer,” as least as far as I am concerned. It also seemed to be saying “none of your business.” The OP seemed to me to be asking a fairly innocuous question about human behavior, and to be told, essentially, that the field of inquiry is closed seemed arrogant to me. \*\* AHunter\*\* and I seem to have sorted it out. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/47 "2006-03-24T15:10:02Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > A case of twins where one died in utero and the pregnancy was attempted to be preserved for the remaining twin. This is frequently surprisingly (to me) successful particularly if the demise occurs very early or very late in the pregnancy. I had a co-worker who was pregnant with twins and one died in utero. She actually carried the dead baby until the live twin was delivered and delivered both. Another co-worker was very heavy, and miscarried at one point. She thought that was it but lo and behold some months later she was still pregnant with the remaining twin (that she didn’t know about). Born less than five pounds and ended up thriving. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/48 "2006-03-24T21:46:15Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I had a co-worker who was pregnant with twins and one died in utero. She actually carried the dead baby until the live twin was delivered and delivered both. > > Another co-worker was very heavy, and miscarried at one point. She thought that was it but lo and behold some months later she was still pregnant with the remaining twin (that she didn’t know about). Born less than five pounds and ended up thriving. I assure you, cases such as these are exceedingly rare. My take on this is reading the sad situations above make the decision a personal, often painful, decision that isn’t taken as lightly as Shodan’s biased cites would like to make it appear. Why should a woman going through the personal descision have to explain why to anyone? I had a co-worker who had no insurance when she became pregnant. It died in eutero, and she had to go to Planned Parenthood for the DNC because nobody at her local Catholic hospital was trained, and since she was uninsured, PP was the cheapest. I wish the bastards that screamed at her and called her a baby killer knew what that poor woman was going through. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/49 "2006-03-25T12:59:00Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > I had a co-worker who had no insurance when she became pregnant. It died in eutero, and she had to go to Planned Parenthood for the DNC because nobody at her local Catholic hospital was trained, and since she was uninsured, PP was the cheapest. I wish the bastards that screamed at her and called her a baby killer knew what that poor woman was going through. I assure you, cases such as this are exceedingly rare. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/50 "2006-03-25T22:24:02Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I assure you, cases such as this are exceedingly rare. > > Regards, > Shodan I wouldn’t call it exceedingly rare. I was an escort for a woman’s clinic for a year or two, and we had at least half a dozen women come in because the child had died and they needed the medical attention. Another half dozen or so came in because they’d had a miscarriage, and needed to have a doctor make sure that all of the products of conception were cleaned out. And the abortion protesters were calling them babykillers when they walked to the clinic. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/51 "2006-03-26T16:12:52Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > I wouldn’t call it exceedingly rare. I was an escort for a woman’s clinic for a year or two, and we had at least half a dozen women come in because the child had died and they needed the medical attention. Another half dozen or so came in because they’d had a miscarriage, and needed to have a doctor make sure that all of the products of conception were cleaned out. And the abortion protesters were calling them babykillers when they walked to the clinic. The plural of anecdote is not data. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/52 "2006-03-26T16:14:06Z")
> [@This space intentionally blank](#): > > The pro-life people were on campus today, and got into an argument with some pro-choicers about late term abortions. And it got me to wondering: why do women get late term abortions? It seems to me that a woman who is inclined to get an abortion would want to get it earlier when it’s less risky and she shows less signs of pregnancy (to avoid any social stigma). I know that there’s no one answer, but I wonder what some of the answers are. What, you never procrastinate? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/53 "2006-03-26T18:17:23Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The plural of anecdote is not data. > > Regards, > Shodan So? Let’s see some data, then. I’m not gonna dig it up, because my personal experience tells me otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/54 "2006-03-26T19:25:48Z")
> [@](#): > > The plural of anecdote is not data. > > Regards, > Shodan [The plural of datum is not “proof”.](http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=the%20plural%20of%20anecdote%20is%20not%20data) I don’t mean to pick on you, **Shodan,** but I have never liked this stupid saying. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/55 "2006-03-26T20:39:12Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > So? Let’s see some data, then. I’m not gonna dig it up, because my personal experience tells me otherwise. See post #45. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/56 "2006-03-26T20:50:15Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > The plural of datum is not “proof”. > > I don’t mean to pick on you, Shodan, but I have never liked this stupid saying. No harm, no foul. I interpreted the OP as asking what are the most common reasons for seeking a late-term abortion. All the anecdotes provided seem to be examples of what might be deemed “politically acceptable” reasons. Most of those who seek late-term abortions seem to be doing so simply for **BrainGlutton** ’s reason. Whether or not you consider this to be a valid reason to delay or not - I would consider any reason to abort a non-viable fetus to be valid - the whole picture of innocently suffering women seeking a desperately needed abortion, at risk of their life, with heartless anti-abortion fanatics ceaselessly hounding them with complete disregard for their very lives - is skewed. Most abortions in the US have nothing to do with the health of the mother or of the fetus. Unless you define “any reason at all” as a matter of health. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![WishIHadACoolName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WishIHadACoolName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WishIHadACoolName)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/57 "2006-03-26T23:11:08Z")
I have, in the last 22 years, met two women who became pregnant as teenagers. Whether it was denial of the pregnancy, or fear of telling their parents, both of them carried into the second trimester. Upon telling their parents of the pregnancy, both women were pressured, forced if you will, into an abortion by their parents. Sad cases both. Both are now mothers, but both have serious issues as a result of the late abortions. I feel for them, because even though I am pro-choice, neither of them were ever given the opportunity to choose. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/58 "2006-03-27T04:48:14Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > See post #45. > > Regards, > Shodan Ah. See, my definition of “exceedingly rare” is “far fewer than one per cent”. It seems that you are willing to consider five or ten per cent “exceedingly rare”. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/59 "2006-03-27T13:10:21Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > Ah. See, my definition of “exceedingly rare” is “far fewer than one per cent”. It seems that you are willing to consider five or ten per cent “exceedingly rare”. Five, ten, and two are all different numbers. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529/60 "2006-03-28T22:59:28Z")
Shodan, Your cite’s numbers are about 20 years old - and are the most recent data religioustolerance can find. However, they also point to more and more abortions being done earlier in the pregnancy during the past 20 years. That shift would most likely bring along a shift in reasons that abortions are performed late. It isn’t accurate to apply 20 year old statistics to population measured 15 years later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-get-late-term-abortions/349529.md?page=4)