Back to Abortion Care Access main page

Abortion Care Advocacy 101
Later Abortion Care Advocacy
Abortion Care and Intersectionality
Countering Misinformation
Common Legislative Interference
Protect, Defend, & Expand

Later Abortion Care Advocacy

Jump to a section:

Abortion care later in pregnancy has long been a target of the anti-abortion movement and was difficult to access even before Roe was overturned. Anti-abortion activists stigmatize later abortions, often using the moniker “abortion up until birth.” In reality, later abortion care is normal, often pursued because a patient could not access abortion earlier, they didn’t know they were pregnant, or they have a complex pregnancy. The decision if and when to proceed with abortion care should be left up to the patient with guidance from their providers. 

TLDR: Why we need to advocate for later abortion care

Have you ever heard or said the phrase “no one supports abortion up until birth”? How about “only a small percent of abortions happen later in pregnancy”?

Phrases that repeat anti-abortion terms or talking points and phrases that “other-ize” later abortion care contribute to the stigma - even if they come from well-meaning abortion care advocates.

In order to better advocate for later abortion care, must know what patients go through and how to properly talk about it.

Later abortion care is heavily stigmatized - even by abortion care advocates

Resource Highlight:

Read an excerpt:

  • Later abortion care is expensive; the average cost for an abortion after the first trimester is over $2,000. Second trimester care can cost upwards of $10,000 or more. Third trimester abortion care can cost $20,000-30,000 or more. Half of abortion seekers live below the Federal Poverty Level ($13,590 for a single person and $27,750 for a family of four). Because of a federal ban on abortion funding, Medicaid does not cover abortion care.

  • Accessing later abortion care is expensive. Later abortion patients often need to pay for travel, food, and hotels for multi-day procedures.

After a fetal impairment diagnosis, fetal surgery and perinatal palliative care are not replacements for later abortion care - they are their own options

A patient may seek later abortion care after receiving a fetal anomaly diagnosis. Several states prohibit abortion care in the case of fetal impairment, while others require patients to be pushed towards perinatal hospice services. Legislators often refer to perinatal palliative care and advancements in fetal surgery as to why abortion care should be prohibited for fetal impairments. In reality, patients deserve access to all medically-appropriate options.

Back to Abortion Care Access main page