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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Serious question. Before the recent Court decision, 43 states had laws that limited late term abortion to some version of “only to protect the life of the mother.” Only seven states, plus DC have (and will continue to have) unlimited late term abortion. There are now some states that will choose to impose that same standard at an earlier point in the pregnancy.

Setting aside the “right to choose” argument for the moment, these states have decades of experience enforcing the “health of the mother” exception late in pregnancy. Is there evidence that women died because of the late term abortion restriction? Not medical malpractice — a woman was diagnosed with a life threatening complication and she died because no one would risk performing an abortion?  What is the difference between applying the standard late in pregnancy vs. earlier? Haven’t Doctors been making these judgments for years?

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I don't understand what you are saying. Are you asking if there were doctors who refused to perform an abortion because of abortion restrictions and because of that the mother died?

What is throwing me off is when in your first paragraph you say "life of the mother" and in your second you say "health of the mother." Those are very different things. A doctor is much less likely to get prosecuted for performing an abortion to protect the health of the mother than she is for performing an abortion to protect the life of the mother. [/quote]

The exact wording of the law varies from state to state, so you can answer with cases from either. There are 43 states that have bans on late term abortions with some exception for the those needed to protect the health of the mother (however it is worded) for decades. Is there data showing women have died because doctors have refused to perform these procedures because of risk of prosecution? [/quote]

You understand that pregnancy is an inherently health-threatening condition, right? So from an objective standpoint, any abortion will protect the health of the mother. Even if somebody wanted an abortion in the third trimester because of say, fear of an abusive partner, it would still be extremely difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was done for a reason other than to protect the health of the mother. This is why anti-abortion folks think a "health of the mother" restriction doesn't go far enough. They want a doctor to be able to prove she was on death's door before they can legally perform the abortion. [/quote]

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