Recent searches: "defective" fetuses, and more

We still see an interest in fetuses of various ages: 13 weeks, 18 weeks, 20 weeks.

Abortion videos remains a popular search. I've recently added a link to some very graphic abortion videos to my collection of abortion videos.

Abortion rape percentages. This Guttmacher Institute report notes the reasons women gave for undergoing abortions. Of the surveyed women, 1% cited rape as a contributing reason for the abortion (with less than half a percent giving rape as the primary reason), and less than half of one percent cited incest as either a contributing or primary factor. And, just as with health concerns, one might question easily if simply abandoning the victim to abortion is as compassionate as it's traditionally taken to be. As for what percent of women pregnant through rape choose abortion, the only study I know of found that between 15% and 25% of pregnant rape victims opted to abort those children. The remaining 75% - 85% chose to give birth. This abortion rate is actually lower than the roughly 30% rate of abortions among women in general. The idea that rape victims would benefit from abortion is simply an assumption, not backed by research. Evidence is that this presumption is wrong.

Chances of abortion failing are difficult to pin down. I've summarized the research here. I've not been able to find any studies on what percent of mothers have somebody finish the kid off, and what percent let the child continue to gestate unmolested. But odds are pretty solid that about 1,000 American women every year get a second chance at motherhood after making an initial choice of death for their child. The fact that many of them do choose life after having initially choosing abortion casts some doubt over claims that abortion is so "necessary". After all, if having that baby would utterly ruin her life, it will still utterly ruin her life even if it's gestated a couple of extra weeks. If the fact that the baby is a bit bigger and older is enough to change the woman's mind, she never had that compelling a reason in the first place, did she?

Stories of aborting because of Down syndrome: I look at the issue of Down syndrome abortions pretty thoroughly here.

Barbara Lofrumento was a teenage girl whose wealthy parents arranged for Dr. Harvey Lothringer to perform what turned out to be a fatal abortion on her. He cut her up and put her down the toilet and garbage disposal in pieces.

How many women die from abortions? We don't know. Except to say that however many it is, it's too many, if you ask me. (I don't take the "Well, you're bound to lose a few here and there! It's all in a good cause!" attitude many prochoicers seem to take.) For stories on abortion deaths, see the Cemetery of Choice. For more on the impact of changes in abortion law, see The unmistakable, undeniable, clear impact of legalized abortion on maternal mortality. You can also check out my December, 2008, summary of my abortion mortality research.

States that allow abortion in the third trimester -- that information can be found in Third Trimester Abortions and the Law. Because of the broad definition of "health" in the Doe vs. Dolton case, no state can actually ban third trimester abortions. The following states allow third trimester abortions with no restrictions: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, West Virginia. The following states have broad, Doe-guided, "physical and mental health" allowances for abortion: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming. The following states bucked Doe and allow only "physical health" abortions in the third trimester: Alabama, Indiana, Ohio, Montana, Pennsylvania, Utah (enjoined and unenforceable). The following states bucked Doe even further and allow only "life of the mother" third trimester abortions (a nonsensical concept): Idaho (enjoined and unenforceable), Michigan, New York.