How many actual “late term” terminations actually happen? Actual reasons?

[Anonymous]

Let me premise this by stating I am pro-choice and in favor of contraception, OTC options, Plan-B, IUDs, etc.

Where I’m less certain are the 3rd term abortions; I honestly do not know much about them.

I do understand that for 1) major fetal malformations detected that late (which are horrendously heartbreaking and sad), termination is necessary and the right thing to do, no doubt. And, OF COURSE: 2) saving the life of the mother comes first and is a completely justifiable reason for a termination during the 3rd term.

But what about cases when 1 and 2 do not apply? Whenever it’s come up here or on social, all I ever see are defensive replies like, “that virtually never happens” (but is that true?), or “well, you asked a RWNJ-talking point! blah blah.”

Can anyone answer the actual question here? What are the numbers of purely elective 3rd term abortions in the USA ?

[Anonymous]

OP when does the third trimester start?.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Of course there are extremes in any situation, but people do not generally wait until the third trimester to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Everything gets more complicated and more expensive as the term of the pregnancy progresses.

There will be extreme unusual cases, but you can't make policy based on the extremes. Under normal circumstances third trimester terminations are very sad and unfortunate situations.

[Anonymous]

Might help if you understood the lingo better. It’s trimester. Not term.

Viability begins around week 23/24. That is still the second trimester. That is the point until Roe protected the right to abortion. You are asking about third trimester abortions because of anti-abortion misinformation counting on people like you who don’t understand pregnancy. (Or you are a troll. Which is probably more like it.)

Assuming the former, try to find an abortion care provider who performs abortion willy nilly weeks after the point of viability, say weeks 27/28 which is when the third trimester that you are interested in begins. Come back when you’ve located one.

[Anonymous]

Copied from another thread:

Here’s a study from Guttmacher showing the reasons women seek abortions after 20 weeks and it was about logistical delays not deformities.

https://onlinelibrary.wil...63/4521013

Here’s KFF

“Individuals seek abortions later in pregnancy for a number of reasons. As part of the Turnaway study out of the University of California San Francisco, from 2008-2010 over 440 women were asked about why they experienced delays in obtaining abortion care, if any (Figure 4). Almost half of individuals who obtained an abortion after 20 weeks did not suspect they were pregnant until later in pregnancy, and other barriers to care included lack of information about where to access an abortion, transportation difficulties, lack of insurance coverage and inability to pay for the procedure. A 2022 study of patients seeking abortions later in pregnancy found that they fell into two categories: either they had learned new information about their pregnancies that made them no longer desirable, such as not finding out they were pregnant until very late in the pregnancy or the emergence of serious fetal or their own health issue; or experiencing barriers to abortion services earlier in the pregnancy that force them to delay the abortion until the third trimester.“

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Copied from another thread:

Here’s a study from Guttmacher showing the reasons women seek abortions after 20 weeks and it was about logistical delays not deformities.

https://onlinelibrary.wil...63/4521013

Here’s KFF

“Individuals seek abortions later in pregnancy for a number of reasons. As part of the Turnaway study out of the University of California San Francisco, from 2008-2010 over 440 women were asked about why they experienced delays in obtaining abortion care, if any (Figure 4). Almost half of individuals who obtained an abortion after 20 weeks did not suspect they were pregnant until later in pregnancy, and other barriers to care included lack of information about where to access an abortion, transportation difficulties, lack of insurance coverage and inability to pay for the procedure. A 2022 study of patients seeking abortions later in pregnancy found that they fell into two categories: either they had learned new information about their pregnancies that made them no longer desirable, such as not finding out they were pregnant until very late in the pregnancy or the emergence of serious fetal or their own health issue; or experiencing barriers to abortion services earlier in the pregnancy that force them to delay the abortion until the third trimester.“

Also important to note that the 20 weeks mentioned is still second trimester.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Copied from another thread:

Here’s a study from Guttmacher showing the reasons women seek abortions after 20 weeks and it was about logistical delays not deformities.

https://onlinelibrary.wil...63/4521013

Here’s KFF

“Individuals seek abortions later in pregnancy for a number of reasons. As part of the Turnaway study out of the University of California San Francisco, from 2008-2010 over 440 women were asked about why they experienced delays in obtaining abortion care, if any (Figure 4). Almost half of individuals who obtained an abortion after 20 weeks did not suspect they were pregnant until later in pregnancy, and other barriers to care included lack of information about where to access an abortion, transportation difficulties, lack of insurance coverage and inability to pay for the procedure. A 2022 study of patients seeking abortions later in pregnancy found that they fell into two categories: either they had learned new information about their pregnancies that made them no longer desirable, such as not finding out they were pregnant until very late in the pregnancy or the emergence of serious fetal or their own health issue; or experiencing barriers to abortion services earlier in the pregnancy that force them to delay the abortion until the third trimester.“

Copy something relevant to the OP's question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Copied from another thread:

Here’s a study from Guttmacher showing the reasons women seek abortions after 20 weeks and it was about logistical delays not deformities.

https://onlinelibrary.wil...63/4521013

Here’s KFF

“Individuals seek abortions later in pregnancy for a number of reasons. As part of the Turnaway study out of the University of California San Francisco, from 2008-2010 over 440 women were asked about why they experienced delays in obtaining abortion care, if any (Figure 4). Almost half of individuals who obtained an abortion after 20 weeks did not suspect they were pregnant until later in pregnancy, and other barriers to care included lack of information about where to access an abortion, transportation difficulties, lack of insurance coverage and inability to pay for the procedure. A 2022 study of patients seeking abortions later in pregnancy found that they fell into two categories: either they had learned new information about their pregnancies that made them no longer desirable, such as not finding out they were pregnant until very late in the pregnancy or the emergence of serious fetal or their own health issue; or experiencing barriers to abortion services earlier in the pregnancy that force them to delay the abortion until the third trimester.“

Thank you; I appreciate that. At least it helps illuminate the issue better, and provide some reasons behind the phenomenon, to better understand it.

[Anonymous]

I don't think people get the results from a 20 week anatomy scan immediately. As I recall it took a week to get results, and then if you get bad news, you set up appointments with your doctors to understand the results, you might agonize over the decision of whether to terminate or not... that can easily take a week or so.

I have a ton of sympathy for people who get fetal abnormality results at the 20 week anatomy scan. Those women should do whatever they feel is best.

[Anonymous]

Wiki (which is not 100% reliable, but useful)

- As of 2015 in the United States, more than 90% of abortions occur before the 13th week, 1.3% of abortions in the United States took place after the 21st week,[4] and less than 1% occur after 24 weeks.[5][6]


Link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_termination_of_pregnancy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Copied from another thread:

Here’s a study from Guttmacher showing the reasons women seek abortions after 20 weeks and it was about logistical delays not deformities.

https://onlinelibrary.wil...63/4521013

Here’s KFF

“Individuals seek abortions later in pregnancy for a number of reasons. As part of the Turnaway study out of the University of California San Francisco, from 2008-2010 over 440 women were asked about why they experienced delays in obtaining abortion care, if any (Figure 4). Almost half of individuals who obtained an abortion after 20 weeks did not suspect they were pregnant until later in pregnancy, and other barriers to care included lack of information about where to access an abortion, transportation difficulties, lack of insurance coverage and inability to pay for the procedure. A 2022 study of patients seeking abortions later in pregnancy found that they fell into two categories: either they had learned new information about their pregnancies that made them no longer desirable, such as not finding out they were pregnant until very late in the pregnancy or the emergence of serious fetal or their own health issue; or experiencing barriers to abortion services earlier in the pregnancy that force them to delay the abortion until the third trimester.“

Thank you; I appreciate that. At least it helps illuminate the issue better, and provide some reasons behind the phenomenon, to better understand it.

0% of this is relevant to your original post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think people get the results from a 20 week anatomy scan immediately. As I recall it took a week to get results, and then if you get bad news, you set up appointments with your doctors to understand the results, you might agonize over the decision of whether to terminate or not... that can easily take a week or so.

I have a ton of sympathy for people who get fetal abnormality results at the 20 week anatomy scan. Those women should do whatever they feel is best.

I feel the same way; I am the OP.

Since becoming a parent , these heartbreaking situations just seem to affect me so much more; those poor parents! It must be a terrible thing to go through; I can’t even imagine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Copied from another thread:

Here’s a study from Guttmacher showing the reasons women seek abortions after 20 weeks and it was about logistical delays not deformities.

https://onlinelibrary.wil...63/4521013

Here’s KFF

“Individuals seek abortions later in pregnancy for a number of reasons. As part of the Turnaway study out of the University of California San Francisco, from 2008-2010 over 440 women were asked about why they experienced delays in obtaining abortion care, if any (Figure 4). Almost half of individuals who obtained an abortion after 20 weeks did not suspect they were pregnant until later in pregnancy, and other barriers to care included lack of information about where to access an abortion, transportation difficulties, lack of insurance coverage and inability to pay for the procedure. A 2022 study of patients seeking abortions later in pregnancy found that they fell into two categories: either they had learned new information about their pregnancies that made them no longer desirable, such as not finding out they were pregnant until very late in the pregnancy or the emergence of serious fetal or their own health issue; or experiencing barriers to abortion services earlier in the pregnancy that force them to delay the abortion until the third trimester.“

Also important to note that the 20 weeks mentioned is still second trimester.

Roe protected abortion rights to viability at 24 weeks. That was in place for 50 years and that is what we should return to. This study is at 20 weeks for some reason

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Copied from another thread:

Here’s a study from Guttmacher showing the reasons women seek abortions after 20 weeks and it was about logistical delays not deformities.

https://onlinelibrary.wil...63/4521013

Here’s KFF

“Individuals seek abortions later in pregnancy for a number of reasons. As part of the Turnaway study out of the University of California San Francisco, from 2008-2010 over 440 women were asked about why they experienced delays in obtaining abortion care, if any (Figure 4). Almost half of individuals who obtained an abortion after 20 weeks did not suspect they were pregnant until later in pregnancy, and other barriers to care included lack of information about where to access an abortion, transportation difficulties, lack of insurance coverage and inability to pay for the procedure. A 2022 study of patients seeking abortions later in pregnancy found that they fell into two categories: either they had learned new information about their pregnancies that made them no longer desirable, such as not finding out they were pregnant until very late in the pregnancy or the emergence of serious fetal or their own health issue; or experiencing barriers to abortion services earlier in the pregnancy that force them to delay the abortion until the third trimester.“

Thank you; I appreciate that. At least it helps illuminate the issue better, and provide some reasons behind the phenomenon, to better understand it.

And please understand that “late term abortion” is a phrase used by anti-abortionists and that abortions in the third trimester which starts after week 27 when fetuses are at the point of viability are exceptionally rare and you would find almost no provider who would perform them that late and for no serious reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Might help if you understood the lingo better. It’s trimester. Not term.

Viability begins around week 23/24. That is still the second trimester. That is the point until Roe protected the right to abortion. You are asking about third trimester abortions because of anti-abortion misinformation counting on people like you who don’t understand pregnancy. (Or you are a troll. Which is probably more like it.)

Assuming the former, try to find an abortion care provider who performs abortion willy nilly weeks after the point of viability, say weeks 27/28 which is when the third trimester that you are interested in begins. Come back when you’ve located one.

This. There are very, very few providers that will do third trimester abortions at all and the cost is something like $25k-$35k.