{"id":195914,"date":"2019-02-06T13:54:47","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T19:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=195914"},"modified":"2019-02-04T23:40:58","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T05:40:58","slug":"va-governor-misleads-third-trimester-abortions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/va-governor-misleads-third-trimester-abortions\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia governor misleads on women’s reasons for third trimester abortions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In an attempt to justify <\/span>his support<\/span><\/a> for a bill that would allow abortions at any \u201c<\/span>stage of pregnancy<\/span><\/a>,\u201d the communications director for Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) has issued a <\/span>written statement<\/span><\/a> that says: \u201cNo woman seeks a third trimester abortion except in the case of tragic or difficult circumstances, such as a nonviable pregnancy or in the event of severe fetal abnormalities\u2026.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That claim has been disproven by the public disclosures of abortion providers for more than two decades. Yet, politicians, media outlets, and activists continue to repeat it. The salient facts of this matter are documented in Just Facts\u2019 comprehensive research <\/span>on abortion<\/span><\/a> and summarized below.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before partial-birth abortions were banned by <\/span>federal law<\/span><\/a> in 2003, it was a preferred method for committing late-term abortions. Dr. Martin Haskell, who is credited with inventing this procedure, stated in a 1993 interview with <\/span>American Medical News<\/span><\/i>:<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be quite frank: most of my abortions are elective in that 20\u201324 week range\u2026. In my particular case, probably 20% are for genetic reasons. And the other 80% are purely elective\u2026.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

A picture of a human during the <\/span>stage of development<\/span><\/a> specified by Haskell (22 weeks) is shown below:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fetus at 20 weeks (22 weeks LMP)<\/p><\/div>\n

READ:\u00a0Abortion is violent and the photos are real, says late-term abortionist<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After Haskell\u2019s statement was entered into the <\/span>U.S. Congressional Record<\/span><\/a>, many abortion advocates denied it:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • The American Civil Liberties Union, National Organization for Women, People for the American Way, and 50 other organizations sent a joint letter to Congress stating that partial-birth abortions were \u201cmost often performed\u201d in cases \u201cof severe fetal anomalies or a medical condition that threatens the pregnant woman\u2019s life or health.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Planned Parenthood issued a press release asserting that partial-birth abortions are performed \u201conly in cases when the woman\u2019s life is in danger or in cases of extreme fetal abnormality.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Ronald Fitzsimmons, the executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers appeared on ABC\u2019s <\/span>Nightline<\/span><\/i> and stated that partial-birth abortions were done only in extreme situations of danger to a woman\u2019s life and fetal anomalies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    However, over the next year and a half, those assertions were discredited by Fitzsimmons and other abortion providers:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Fitzsimmons told the <\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>American Medical News <\/span><\/i>that he \u201clied through [his] teeth\u201d when he appeared on <\/span>Nightline<\/span><\/i> because he was afraid that the truth would erode public support for abortion. Disowning his previous statements, he stated that partial-birth abortions are \u201cprimarily done on healthy women and healthy fetuses….\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Two doctors at a New Jersey abortion clinic spoke with a North Jersey newspaper under condition of anonymity. Both independently stated that their clinic was performing roughly 1,500 partial-birth abortions per year, most of which were elective and not for medical reasons.<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Renee Chelian, president of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers admitted:<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      The spin out of Washington was that it was only done for medical necessity, even though we knew it wasn\u2019t so. I kept waiting for [the National Abortion Federation] to clarify it and they never did. I got caught up: What do we do about this secret? Who do we tell and what happens when we tell? But frankly, no one was asking me, so I didn\u2019t have to worry.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

      Thus, the <\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/i> reported<\/span><\/a> in 2003 that \u201cone aspect\u201d of the partial-birth abortion debate \u201chas changed\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

      When it began, some opponents of the ban said the targeted form of abortion was used only when a fetus had extreme abnormalities or a mother\u2019s health was endangered by pregnancy. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

      Now, both sides acknowledge that abortions done late in the second trimester, no matter how they are conducted, are most often performed to end healthy pregnancies because the woman arrived relatively late at her decision to abort.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

      A Guttmacher study from 1987 indicates that only 2 percent of abortions done after 16 weeks of pregnancy are done because of fetal abnormalities.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Resurrecting the Falsehood<\/b><\/p>\n

      Nearly a decade after the <\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/i> reported the truth about the reasons for late-term abortions, the <\/span>Times’<\/span><\/i> own editorial board ignored this and <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a> that abortions after 20 weeks \u201coften involve severely troubled pregnancies that pose risks to a woman\u2019s health or life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

      Likewise, Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton <\/span>told<\/span><\/a> CBS\u2019s <\/span>Face the Nation<\/span><\/i> in 2015 that \u201cthe kind of late-term abortions that take place are because of medical necessity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

      Over the past several days, Governor Northam, who is a pediatric neurologist, spread the same false narrative in an interview with <\/span>WTOP radio<\/span><\/a> and via his <\/span>spokesperson<\/span><\/a>. Throughout this, <\/span>many media outlets<\/span><\/a> have published his words without revealing they are untrue.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Expanding Late-Term Abortions<\/b><\/p>\n

      Despite the <\/span>federal law<\/span><\/a> prohibiting partial-birth abortions for the past 16 years, a <\/span>2013 Guttmacher paper<\/span><\/a> estimated that \u201cmore than 15,000\u201d abortions \u201cafter 20 weeks\u201d are still done every year. These are often performed with a procedure called \u201cdismemberment dilation and extraction.\u201d In this type of abortion, as explained by the <\/span>Washington Post<\/span><\/i><\/a>, \u201cthe fetal limbs are pulled off the body in utero, sometimes while the fetus is still alive.\u201d A 2007 Supreme Court decision details this process in more depth (WARNING: <\/span>graphic content<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n