Later Abortion Care Advocacy
Patients may choose to seek abortion care later in pregnancy for a variety of reasons, including inability to access earlier care, a fetal anomaly diagnosis, and changes to their own health. Regardless of a patient’s motivation, the decision to should be made by a patient, with support of their care team, and without interference from legislation. Unfortunately, abortion care later in pregnancy has been a primary target of anti-abortion legislation and is increasingly difficult to access.
Later Abortion 101
Abortions that occur later in pregnancy have long been a target of the anti-abortion movement and were difficult to access even before Roe was overturned. Anti-abortion activists stigmatize later abortions, often using the moniker “abortion up until birth.” In reality, abortions that occur later in pregnancy are a normal part of abortion care, usually pursued because a patient either could not access abortion earlier or is facing a complex pregnancy. The decision if and when to proceed with abortion care should be left up to the patient and their providers.
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Bans on Specific Abortion Methods Used After the First Trimester [Guttmacher Institute, 7/1/23]
Exploring the emotional costs of abortion travel in the United States due to legal restriction [Later Abortion Initiative, 1/23]
Denial of Abortion Because of Provider Gestational Age Limits in the United States [American Journal of Public Health, 9/22]
Making a third-trimester abortion referral: Learning from patients [Later Abortion Initiative, 6/22]
Forced travel for later abortion care in the United States: Findings and recommendations [Later Abortion Initiative, 6/22]
Fact Sheet: Abortion Later in Pregnancy [Abortion Care Reality Project, 11/23/21]
Consult Series #59, The use of analgesia and anesthesia for maternal-fetal procedures [SMFM, 8/27/21]
The science of “viability” [Later Abortion Initiative, 4/18]
Fetal pain, analgesia, and anesthesia in the context of abortion [Later Abortion Initiative, 4/18]
The Facts: Abortion Bans and Abortion Later in Pregnancy [Who Not When, Date unknown]
Abortion After the First Trimester [Planned Parenthood, Date unknown]
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Discussing Later Abortion Care [SMFM; Accessible Upon Request Only]
Incremental expansion of abortion care curriculum [Later Abortion Initiative, Date Unknown]
Science vs. myths about later abortion [Later Abortion Initiative, Date Unknown]
Stop the Stigma
Abortions that occur later in pregnancy are subject to an extreme amount of stigma. Well-meaning supporters of abortion care often fall into the trap of repeating the stigmatizing trope that “no one supports abortion up until birth” as a response to anti-abortion activists insisting abortion providers are committing infanticide. However, abortion care advocates don’t need to respond directly to the outlandish, medically and legally unfounded claims repeated by anti-abortion activists. Abortion advocates should support all abortions that are desired by patients, which includes abortions that occur later in pregnancy.
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“The right thing to do would be to provide care… and we can’t”: Provider experiences with Georgia’s 22-week abortion ban [Contraception, 8/23]
Abortion Any Time Isn’t Just a Rallying Cry—It’s True Reproductive Freedom [The Nation, 6/23/23]
There’s no such thing as a “late-term abortion” [Planned Parenthood, 10/13/22]
The Stigma of “Late-Term Abortions” Is the Point [Mother Jones, 6/3/21]
I'm an Abortion Provider and It's Time To Tell the Truth About Abortion in Later Pregnancy [Jezebel, 2/6/19]
After After Tiller: the impact of a documentary film on understandings of third-trimester abortion [Culture, Health & Sexuality, 3/31/15]
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Talking Points: Later Abortion [SMFM, 2023]
Personal Stories: How Bans on Abortion Later in Pregnancy Hurt People [Planned Parenthood, Date unknown]
Talking about "later" abortion [Later Abortion Initiative, Date Unknown]
Later Abortion and Fetal Impairments
Though a patient may seek an abortion later in pregnancy for a variety of reasons, some seek later abortion care after receiving a fetal anomaly diagnosis. Several states states prohibit abortions in the case of fetal anomaly, and others require patients seeking this care to be counseled on perinatal hospice services. Several states have conflicting abortion bans on the books, with contradictory definitions of fetal anomaly diagnoses that would allow a patient to procure an abortion. Patients and providers are forced to navigate this confusion themselves, and risk legal consequences.
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Legal Limits Relaxed: Time to Look at Other Barriers Faced by Women Seeking Termination of Pregnancy for Fetal Anomalies [Cureus, 1/24/23]
At 18 weeks pregnant, she faced an immense decision with just days to make it [NPR, 10/27/22]
How Texas’ abortion laws turned a heartbreaking fetal diagnosis into a cross-country journey [Texas Tribune, 9/20/22]
Termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly: a systematic review of the healthcare experiences and needs of parents [BMC Pregnancy Childbirth, 5/26/22]
The Dysgenic State: Environmental Injustice and Disability-Selective Abortion Bans [California Law Review, 4/22]
‘It’s such an impossible decision’: Fatal fetal diagnoses and the state’s abortion ban [New Hampshire Bulletin, 2/10/22]
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Discussing Fetal Anomalies and Abortion Care [SMFM; Accessible Upon Request Only]