Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt L
So-called partial-birth abortion is used when there is a serious problem with the fetus, and it is not viable. It's an extremely rare procedure.
If you know of any case where it was used to terminate a pregnancy just to get rid of a viable fetus, please let us know.
But I do agree that viability is a very good metric, even if it's not easy to determine. Most probably are viable at 24 weeks, but what about 20 or 12?
However, I don't think simple viability is the right metric for abortion. Very early in the pregnancy, there is no nervous system. I don't consider this a problem. Later, there is still not viability yet there is a nervous system, and thus (most likely) human feelings.
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I know that partial birth abortion is extremely rare, and hopefully only used in cases where the mother's health is an issue or if there is a serious problem with the fetus.
I don't know if any pregnancies are terminated in the second trimester other than the above two examples. I sure hope not.
When my twins were born three years ago, 26 weeks was the earliest gestational age when the fetus could survive, but there have been several examples recently where fetuses survived at 24 weeks. It is not a good thing for the fetus, though, as it takes an enormous amount of medical intervention, and babies born at this early age have a very high risk of a number of medical problems throughout their lives.