{"id":214439,"date":"2019-11-26T12:30:30","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T18:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=214439"},"modified":"2024-09-20T12:39:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T17:39:46","slug":"washington-post-letter-editor-late-abortions-falsehoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/washington-post-letter-editor-late-abortions-falsehoods\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Post publishes letter to editor on late-term abortions that’s full of falsehoods"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A letter to the editor of the Washington Post —\u00a0published<\/a> in response to a November 17th op-ed<\/a> written by\u00a0Alexandra DeSanctis — made several false claims regarding late-term abortion. DeSanctis, a writer with National Review, took to Twitter to try and set the facts straight, writing, “The @washingtonpost has published a letter to the editor responding to my op-ed from last weekend. The letter says ‘there is no such thing as abortion on demand in the third trimester, and to claim there is, or that anyone supports it, is a lie.’…”<\/p>\n

Since the Post didn’t bother to fact check the claims made in this letter to the editor, Live Action News will.<\/p>\n

\"Image:

Alexandria DeSanctis on WAPO letter regarding late term abortion (Image Twitter)<\/p><\/div>\n

FALSE CLAIM:\u00a0\u201cAbortion on demand\u201d in the\u00a0third trimester<\/a>\u00a0does not exist.<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE TRUTH:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Late-term abortion facilities say otherwise. Exhibit A, from abortionist LeRoy Carhart<\/a>‘s website:<\/p>\n

\"Image:

LeRoy Carhart third trimester abortions Website<\/p><\/div>\n

Abortionist\u00a0<\/span>Warren Hern<\/a>‘s\u00a0<\/span>business website<\/a>\u00a0refers to him as a \u201cLate Term Abortion Specialist\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Image:<\/p>\n

Not all states require abortion data, and many do not<\/a>\u00a0break the numbers down by gestational age and reason.<\/p>\n

A Live Action News <\/span>analysis<\/span><\/a> of data from state reporting agencies that require stats by gestation revealed that:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • In three states, 2nd and 3rd trimester abortions accounted for 13-17% of all abortions.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • In 12 states, 2nd and 3rd trimester abortions accounted for 11-13% of all abortions.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • In 19 states, 2nd and 3rd trimester abortions accounted for 6-10% of all abortions\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    A sample of data from handful of states that report abortions in the third trimester are as follows:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Florida<\/a>\u00a0had one “elective” third trimester abortion in 2017<\/a> and one in 2018<\/a>.<\/li>\n
    • Between 2006 and 2016, Idaho<\/a>\u00a0reported five abortions committed in the third trimester.<\/li>\n
    • In 2014 alone, Iowa reported<\/a>\u00a0one abortion after 29 weeks and hundreds between 14 to 28 weeks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \"Image:

      Reported third trimester abortions Iowa 2014<\/p><\/div>\n

      Michigan<\/strong> <\/span>reported the following numbers for abortions from 25-28 weeks:<\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      • 6 in\u00a02018<\/a><\/li>\n
      • 6 in\u00a02017<\/a><\/li>\n
      • 5 in\u00a02016<\/a><\/li>\n
      • 36 in\u00a02015<\/a><\/li>\n
      • 41 in\u00a02014<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        The state also reported these numbers for abortions at 28 or 29 weeks and later:<\/p>\n

          \n
        • 1 in\u00a02018<\/a><\/li>\n
        • 3 in\u00a02017<\/a><\/li>\n
        • 8 in\u00a02016<\/a><\/li>\n
        • 21 in\u00a02015<\/a><\/li>\n
        • 18 in\u00a02014<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          According to Guttmacher\u2019s\u00a0report<\/a>, 25% of abortion facilities offered abortions up to 20 weeks and 10% up to 24 weeks.<\/p>\n

          There are\u00a0facilities<\/a>\u00a0which\u00a0provide<\/a>\u00a0abortions\u00a0even later<\/a>\u00a0in gestation.<\/p>\n

          Planned Parenthood\u00a0commits<\/a>\u00a0elective abortions up to the 24th week and opposes<\/a> late-term abortion restrictions.<\/p>\n

          READ:\u00a0Roughly 80% of late-term abortions are elective. Here\u2019s how we know.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

          FALSE CLAIM: “Women who need abortions in late pregnancy have been told… their baby has some condition … that will make it impossible for that baby to live.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

          THE TRUTH:<\/strong><\/p>\n

          The Congressional Research Service quotes<\/a> pro-abortion researcher Diana Greene Foster, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health<\/a> which trains abortionists. She says that fetal anomaly is likely a “small minority of later abortion”:<\/p>\n

          \u201c[t]here aren\u2019t good data on how often later abortions are for medical reasons.\u201dBased on limited research and discussions with researchers in the field, Dr. Foster believes that abortions for fetal anomaly \u201cmake up a small minority of later abortion\u201d and that those for life endangerment are even harder to characterize. Many of the women whose lives are at risk would be treated under emergency circumstances at a hospital rather than at a dedicated abortion clinic, making numbers more difficult to obtain, according to Dr. Foster.<\/em><\/p>\n

          According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute<\/a>, “a study of late-term abortions in 2013 (Fisher, Kimport) in the journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, a publication of the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, the authors acknowledge that ‘data suggests that most women seeking later terminations are not doing so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment.'”<\/p>\n

          A teaching module published<\/a> by an abortion training\u00a0program<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0UCSF Bixby Center<\/a>\u00a0reveals that physical health is\u00a0almost never given as a reason<\/strong>\u00a0for why a woman aborts after the first trimester.<\/p>\n

          \"Use<\/p>\n

          Eleanor Drey on reasons women obtain late second trimester abortions<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          One study cited<\/a>\u00a0the case of\u00a0a “26\u2010year\u2010old Latina woman in New Mexico, who had an abortion at 28 weeks\u2019 gestation, said, ‘I was afraid of my boyfriend finding out, and I went [to the abortion clinic] once he was in jail.'”<\/p>\n

          Live Action\u00a0previously<\/a>\u00a0documented the fact that late-term abortions occur for reasons of personal choice. The video below is a compilation of a Live Action undercover investigation into several U.S. late-term abortion facilities. More on that investigation\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n