‘Any particular reason’: What the media doesn’t say about third-trimester abortions

Efforts have been made in recent years — and especially since the fall of Roe v. Wade — to claim that “abortion up to birth” is a false idea that never (or almost never) occurs. While abortion extremely late in pregnancy is a small percentage of abortions in the U.S. given that most are committed earlier in pregnancy, several states have laws that place zero limits on gestational age for abortion — and more abortion facilities are offering abortion into the third trimester of pregnancy.

Third-trimester abortions are committed past 30 weeks of pregnancy in multiple facilities across the country with some advertised as being carried out for no ‘particular reason.’ In addition, at least six states and the District of Columbia now permit abortions to be committed with no gestational limitations.

A 2022 report authored by Katrina Kimport, who is associated with the pro-abortion Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), claimed that data accessed in September of 2021 by ANSIRH’s abortion facility database revealed that there are only four facilities that publicly advertise offering abortions after 24 weeks LMP. However, a review by Live Action News indicates that third-trimester abortions are advertised on abortion business websites in multiple locations, and some will commit abortions for any reason whatsoever.

Multiple abortion locations commit abortions into the third trimester

The Dupont Clinic website in Washington, D.C., advertises late abortion after 26 weeks of pregnancy; however, the facility’s drop-down menu claims it will commit late abortions up to 31 weeks 6 days of pregnancy. That is nearly 32 weeks.

“If you are 26 weeks or later into your pregnancy, we can still see you, regardless of your medical history, background, or fetal indications. We do not require any particular ‘reason’ to be seen here – if you would like to terminate your pregnancy, we support you in that decision,” the website states. (emphasis added)

In October of last year, DuPont Clinic announced plans to expand to California as an “all-trimester” facility, writing on Twitter, “The need for all-trimester abortion care has never been greater.”

Abortionist Warren Hern commits late abortions for any reason in Boulder, Colorado, and although his website lists “Third Trimester Abortion… Over 28 weeks,” he acknowledges that he is willing to commit late abortions past 30 weeks of pregnancy.

The Atlantic, which recently interviewed Hern, reinforced this, writing, “Many of the women who visit Hern’s clinic do so because their health is at risk — or because their fetus has a serious abnormality that would require a baby to undergo countless surgeries with little chance of survival. But Hern does not restrict his work to these cases.”

Atlantic added that Hern will commit abortions up to 32 weeks.

The website of the C.A.R.E clinic in Maryland, founded by the late abortionist LeRoy Carhart, still houses a brochure that claims the clinic is “[s]pecializing in 2nd & 3rd trimester abortion care.”

“If you are 28 weeks pregnant or further an induction abortion over a four day period is what we provide,” the brochure states.

Online, the website states the business will commit abortions “up to 35 weeks” of pregnancy.

Partners in Abortion Care, founded by Morgan Nuzzo and Diane Horvath, also commits abortions into the third trimester. Partners’ website claims to offer “induction abortions with IV sedation beyond 26 weeks of pregnancy,” describing the lucrative business online as “the only women-owned and operated abortion clinic providing abortions in all trimesters.”

Horvath and Nuzzo say they are proud to offer abortions in all three trimesters of pregnancy, and told NPR that their clients could be someone whose fetus has serious anomalies, a patient whose continued pregnancy threatens their health, or someone who didn’t discover they were pregnant until after the first trimester.

Capital Women’s Group’s (D.C.) website states that it offers “late-term abortion care up to 36 weeks under certain circumstances, such as for fetal or maternal indications.”

The Washington Surgi-Clinic facility in D.C. advertises abortions at “26 weeks plus.” This facility, operated by abortionist Cesare Santangelo, is the location where pro-life activists found the remains of several brutally aborted children, five of which were estimated to be around 28-32 weeks.

Multiple abortion facilities also advertise abortions right up to the day before the third trimester. Abortions are committed up to 27 weeks and six days of pregnancy at the Hope City abortion facility in Granite City, Illinois.

The Lilith Clinic, with locations in Washington, Oregon, and Nevada, commits abortion through 26 weeks of pregnancy, as does the Cedar River Clinic in Washington State.

In specific locations, Planned Parenthood will also commit abortions through 26 weeks, even telling clients, “If your last period started more than 26 weeks ago, we can help connect you to other abortion options in your area.”

“In 2020, while first-trimester abortions had an average cost of $644 for medication abortion and $715 for aspiration abortion and the average cost of a second-trimester abortion was $1068, third-trimester abortions cost much more: they range in cost from a few thousand dollars to over $25,000, depending on gestation and clinical complexity,” Kimport wrote in her report.

States With No Gestational Limits

AbortionFinder.org’s State by State Guide (as of May 12, 2023) shows that there are no gestational age limits on abortion in multiple states including Alaska, Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, D.C.

The website is “operated by Bedsider, a project of the nonprofit Power to Decide. Bedsider is a digital platform that provides information about birth control, sex, and sexual health — basically everything you need to have a healthy, happy sex life,” it claims online.

Guttmacher Institute’s “interactive map,” which was updated May 10, 2023, shows the same states as having no gestational limits on abortion while other state limits vary.

The map reveals that abortion is not restricted based on gestational age in Alaska, Colorado, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont.

Additionally:

• Abortion is banned at fetal viability, generally 24–26 weeks of pregnancy in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wyoming. [Note: “Viability” is subjective and not based on gestational age alone, but is determined by the abortionist.]

• Abortion is banned starting in the third trimester in Virginia.

• Abortion is banned at 24 weeks and later in Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.

• Abortion is banned at 22 weeks and later in Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.

• Abortion is banned at 20 weeks and later in North Carolina.

• Abortion is banned at 18 weeks and later in Utah.

• Abortion is banned at 15 weeks and later in Florida.

Between 2017 and 2020, data published by Planned Parenthood’s former “special affiliate,” the Guttmacher Institute, revealed that the number of late abortions rose nearly 8% in recent years. In addition, the data indicated that reported abortions committed later in pregnancy (13 weeks and up) could total over 108,000 per year, with nearly 12,000 of those committed at or after the 21st week of pregnancy — an age at which premature babies are now surviving outside the womb.

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