12-08-2019, 11:07 AM
(12-07-2019, 07:33 PM)sally Wrote: He's talking about aborting in the ninth month, no? I guess some states don't have laws giving a time limit on abortion. Which was news to me until HotD posted about it.
Abortion of a viable fetus (can survive outside the womb) is against federal law unless it's medically necessary, even in states that have no supplemental term/time limits for abortion (Alaska, Colorado, DC, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont).
As we discussed previously, abortions during the 9th month very rarely occur. In almost all pregnancies aside from cases of severe fetal abnormality, a fetus is viable outside the womb in the 9th month.
However, some states do define 'viability' later than others and allow elective abortions earlier in the third trimester.
When abortions are deemed medically necessary in the 9th month, some physicians (in states that allow it) may choose to move the fetus partially outside the birth canal because they believe it's less risky to the life or health of the mother ('partial birth abortion' as the procedure has been referred-to by some).
It seems more likely to me that 'partial birth abortion' is what Trump was alluding to -- whether due to ignorance, spin, poor wording or something else, I don't know.