How Stuff Works: Why Women and Children Have Late Term Abortions

[Mad Scientist]

A lot has been discussed about the Abortionist Dr. George Tillers' murder but not much has been said about why women and children have late term abortions. Here's a link to some reasons why:

Late-term abortion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1987, the Alan Guttmacher Institute collected questionnaires from 1,900 women in the United States who came to clinics to have abortions. Of the 1,900 questioned, 420 had been pregnant for 16 or more weeks. These 420 women were asked to choose among a list of reasons they had not obtained the abortions earlier in their pregnancies. The results were as follows:

71% Woman didn't recognize she was pregnant or misjudged gestation
48% Woman found it hard to make arrangements for abortion
33% Woman was afraid to tell her partner or parents
24% Woman took time to decide to have an abortion
8% Woman waited for her relationship to change
8% Someone pressured woman not to have abortion
6% Something changed after woman became pregnant
6% Woman didn't know timing is important
5% Woman didn't know she could get an abortion
2% A fetal problem was diagnosed late in pregnancy
11% Other

"2% A fetal problem was diagnosed late in pregnancy". Uh, isn't that what abortionists always describe as their main reason?

I liked these reasons:
"8% Woman waited for her relationship to change" Huh? What would change? The man would stop doing drugs and/or beating them somehow?
"6% Woman didn't know timing is important" WTF does that mean? Are some idiots still doing the rythm method?
"8% Someone pressured woman not to have abortion". Oh as opposed to pressuring them TO have an abortion. That never happens right?

Discuss.

 

[Ravi]

A lot has been discussed about the Abortionist Dr. George Tillers' murder but not much has been said about why women and children have late term abortions. Here's a link to some reasons why:

Late-term abortion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 1987, the Alan Guttmacher Institute collected questionnaires from 1,900 women in the United States who came to clinics to have abortions. Of the 1,900 questioned, 420 had been pregnant for 16 or more weeks. These 420 women were asked to choose among a list of reasons they had not obtained the abortions earlier in their pregnancies. The results were as follows:

71% Woman didn't recognize she was pregnant or misjudged gestation
48% Woman found it hard to make arrangements for abortion
33% Woman was afraid to tell her partner or parents
24% Woman took time to decide to have an abortion
8% Woman waited for her relationship to change
8% Someone pressured woman not to have abortion
6% Something changed after woman became pregnant
6% Woman didn't know timing is important
5% Woman didn't know she could get an abortion
2% A fetal problem was diagnosed late in pregnancy
11% Other

"2% A fetal problem was diagnosed late in pregnancy". Uh, isn't that what abortionists always describe as their main reason?

I liked these reasons:
"8% Woman waited for her relationship to change" Huh? What would change? The man would stop doing drugs and/or beating them somehow?
"6% Woman didn't know timing is important" WTF does that mean? Are some idiots still doing the rythm method?
"8% Someone pressured woman not to have abortion". Oh as opposed to pressuring them TO have an abortion. That never happens right?

Discuss.

You've given a list of why a group of women had abortions at all, not late term abortions.

 

[Mad Scientist]

You've given a list of why a group of women had abortions at all, not late term abortions.

...These 420 women were asked to choose among a list of reasons they had not obtained the abortions earlier in their pregnancies.

Later means later, not earlier. Could someone please explain this to Ravi?

 

[PoliticalChic]

Unless these women can't either count the days of the month or not very attentive about their cycles, it's difficult to believe that "71% Woman didn't recognize she was pregnant or misjudged gestation." That means (assuming that their cycles were normal) that they missed 4 periods without noticing that they were pregnant.

More women need to know what happens to the fetus during a late term abortion. If more women knew, they would be horrified and would be extremely hesitant to undergo such a treatment. If women are not in a position to properly care for the baby other options should be presented in a reassuring manner. Even people who support abortion will not go as so far as to support late term abortion because it is an act of brutality.

 

[Coyote]

You've given a list of why a group of women had abortions at all, not late term abortions.

...These 420 women were asked to choose among a list of reasons they had not obtained the abortions earlier in their pregnancies.

Later means later, not earlier. Could someone please explain this to Ravi?

You aren't talking about "later" - you are talking about "late term" abortions, so the topic of your thread is misleading.

According to the JAMA that would be either after 21 weeks or 27 weeks.

 

[Coyote]

Unless these women can't either count the days of the month or not very attentive about their cycles, it's difficult to believe that "71% Woman didn't recognize she was pregnant or misjudged gestation." That means (assuming that their cycles were normal) that they missed 4 periods without noticing that they were pregnant.

I used to think that it would be difficult to not know you were pregnant, but after reading this, I'm not so sure any more and I'm not convinced that the problem is a simple one:

From JAMA

Women who have late abortions often are disadvantaged. Teenagers, especially those younger than 15 years, and women of minority status disproportionately have late abortions.3 Many of these patients either do not suspect the pregnancy or attempt to conceal it until the pregnancy becomes evident. Menstrual irregularity is an important risk factor.10 Women with irregular menses often discover late that they are pregnant. Other risk factors include young age, low educational attainment, having had a sexually transmitted disease, and ambivalence about the decision to abort.11 Thus, many of the factors associated with late abortions are not easily changed.

Women seeking late abortions are often disadvantaged in other ways, such as lack of knowledge about options, lack of money to pay for the procedure, lack of transportation to a provider, and alcohol or other drug dependence. Some young women are unaware of the availability of late abortions. Since enactment of the Hyde Amendment, the federal government has not paid for indigent women to have abortions, and few states subsidize abortion services. Hence, some women need weeks to raise the money to pay for an abortion, which delays the procedure until the second trimester. Of note, states that fund abortions have significantly lower rates of teen pregnancy, low-birth-weight babies, premature births, and births with late or no prenatal care than do other states.

Geography poses yet another barrier: more than 80% of US counties do not have an abortion provider. Providers of late abortion are even more scarce. In 1993, only 13% of US abortion providers offered abortions at 21 weeks, and the cost averaged more than $1000.12

More women need to know what happens to the fetus during a late term abortion. If more women knew, they would be horrified and would be extremely hesitant to undergo such a treatment. If women are not in a position to properly care for the baby other options should be presented in a reassuring manner. Even people who support abortion will not go as so far as to support late term abortion because it is an act of brutality.

All options, including birth control education, counseling, options for keeping the child, financial help and availability of early abortions ought to be available...

 

[Ravi]

You've given a list of why a group of women had abortions at all, not late term abortions.

...These 420 women were asked to choose among a list of reasons they had not obtained the abortions earlier in their pregnancies.

Later means later, not earlier. Could someone please explain this to Ravi?

16 weeks isn't exactly late term.