you're using a joke to make a serious point: late term abortion

Late-term abortions.  It's the newest thing to fight about, it seems.

My sister called my cell one day to say that she had seen a billboard in town that asserted that the law allows women to abort their pregnancies up until the end, and "is that true?"  yes, it's true...

Can you IMAGINE killing your baby after 4 months of pregnancy?  Can you IMAGINE having a bump and having it forcibly removed resulting in its death?  ME NEITHER.  But you know what?  That's just the point, no one can. 

So when I hear the argument from anti-abortionists that late-term abortion is going TOO FAR, I wonder who in the hell they think is just running around busy and forgetting that they meant to kill their baby before 20 weeks, and later opting for the late-term abortion. 

This woman doesn't exist, but somehow she's become the mascot for anti-abortion.  I keep telling people, women aborting that late in pregnancy, they WANTED their babies, they don't want to have to abort them.  But there's that woman, aborting a perfectly lovely fetus so late in the game.

My only exposure to late-term abortion comes from a masters project I worked on a few years ago.  We were looking at the development of the human fetal pancreas and that meant we needed human fetal pancrati.  Awful time in my life... filled with sadness and uncomfortableness.  I was afraid, I don't agree with abortion.  I'm not against abortion, because I think it always has and always will be performed whether legal or not, and you're just putting women at risk to force them to do that.  Personally, I can't see stomaching an abortion, but I've never been placed in a position where I had to think about it, thankfully.  Who knows what I would choose in a different circumstance.  At any rate, it's not for me to choose for other women... but that's not the point of this... I simply wanted to make known my personal stance on the thing... I'm anti-abortion in the sense that I think it's such a shame and I wish it didn't happen, but I'm pro-abortion because it's not for me to choose and I can't judge the situation any other woman is in. What I learned, though, is that rather than feeling sad because I don't love abortions... I felt sad because those women didn't either.  They wanted their babies.

If you lose your baby before 20 weeks, it's considered a miscarriage.  If you lose it after 20 weeks, that's a stillbirth.  Similarly, regular old "abortion" refers to termination of pregnancy before 20 weeks, and late-term abortions occur after 20 weeks.

In Canada, 90% of abortions are performed before 12 weeks.  And in fact, of the remaining 10% of abortions, 9.6% are performed before the cut off... before 20 weeks.  So only 0.4% of abortions occur past 20 weeks and are therefore late-term abortions.  We're talking about a very, very small proportion of total abortions (woah, I got all Jesse Jackson there!).  Even if this hypothetical evil baby-killing bitch existed, she's accounting for less than half a percent of abortion as a whole.

But clearly, for every 1,000 abortions, 4 of them are late-term... which means they are happening no matter how small the percentage may seem.  So who is she then, that stupid whore...

Consider these groups:

1.  Amniocentesis is a very useful tool in determining the health and viability of any unborn child.  This test is performed AFTER 20 weeks and is not routine.  It is offered to high-risk women or to those who after having undergone a standard ultrasound around the half-way mark come away not with the knowledge of whether it had a penis or not, but that it is growing abnormally or shows signs of defects.  After an "amnio" is performed, you can get a very accurate picture of what is going on with the baby chromosomally.  If your baby has an abnormality, it is at this point that you can choose to terminate the pregnancy.  Here is an example of an honest-to-god woman's post on a pregnancy loss board.  If you want the link I will provide it to you if you ask, but in order that her pain NOT be clicked on for your parousal, I will simply copy and paste her sentiments...

"I figured this could have a thread of it's own. They phoned today with the genetics results today. I wasn't sure what to expect. It's Trisomy 13. I was shocked, and saddened. It's a rare genetic mix up where baby gets three #13 chromosomes. It results in many greatly terrible defects, both physical and mental. The head may be deformed, limbs deformed, heart, brain and urinary problems. Many of these babies miscarry in the 2nd term I've learned. Many go on to birth, 80% won't live through the first day.

It's an answer. The only other choice was a detrimental renal problem, as all they saw physically was an enlarged bladder. The woman told me today that the other issues are going to come for certain, they just aren't able to see them yet.

I suppose on one hand it's good. We have an answer and don't need to wait any longer. We are going to terminate as soon as possible. Not for lack of love of baby but for the health of baby and mom. I'm sickened by it all. They say it's just a genetic mix up, baby just picked up three chromosomes instead of two. There is an extremely rare chance that either of us are carriers of it and it "shouldn't" happen again. It's a 1 in 4,000 occurance, so I have no faith in things that should and shouldn't happen. I'm just snarky about that right now though.

We also went to meet with our priest tonight and he gave the baby last rights and anointed both me and my partner. He was very compassionate and helpful. We named the baby and are confident that Mother Mary will soon take over the care taking of our baby. He said that we need to do three things as parents. Take care of the body, mind and spirit. We can't do anything about the body or mind right now, but we can take care of babies spirit, and we have done that. I feel good about going and would recommend anyone else to do just that as well if they feel intended.

Funny enough, I learned that it was a little boy. I was so sure it was a girl.

I'm fearful for the procedure I need to go through but have faith now that we are making the right decision for the right reasons. Thank you all for your support during this, and I'm sure I'll need much more in the coming weeks."

Well there she is folks, that's one of your horrible late-term aborting assholes.  Who else????

2.  Women that were pregnant with multiples but lost one naturally.  Now they're hoping and praying the lost twin doesn't cause any kind of infection and hurt the other... but if it does... what do they do?  The law allows the mom to terminate the remaining viable pregnancy to save her own life.  Perhaps you subscribe to the theory that the baby's life is more important than the woman's, and whether you're right or not, if mama dies, baby dies.  At 25 weeks a baby CAN be kept alive and go on to survive and even come home, you've all seen and heard about it, but it's NOT the norm.  Ask your husbands what they'd rather do with your life.  It's a tricky question, I suppose... but if late-term abortions are illegal then no one gets to choose, and possibly everyone's dead.  Just ask Alexa from Flotsam.  Not that she had to go all the way with that argument, but her point was that she could if she had to, decide.

3.  Young girls, we're talking 12 to 14 that are abused, raped, molested or otherwise assaulted by someone: stranger or the ever-popular creepy uncle/grandpa/father/brother and now they're not getting their period.  Even if they engaged in the sexual encounter "willingly" (because who willingly has sex at 12 years old unless there is something fundamentally wrong going on) I still stand by this argument...  Either they're too ashamed to tell anyone what's happened (or there's no one to tell), or they don't know enough about their cycle to know that they're pregnant... and here they are at 5 months and their pants don't fit.  I don't know about you, but I think these girls deserve compassion and the right to decide what to do with the pregnancy even though it's late in the game... whether they're little 'hussies' or not, no fortunate 13 year-old wants to have sex and make a baby.  I'm sure they're terribly distraught about the whole thing anyway, let alone having a late-term abortion.  And yes, I did see this... and I did end up with her baby's pancreas.

So where does the evil-doer fit in?  She just doesn't.  I know nothing is black and white, and I never make arguments on this blog.  I just thought I might offer my opinion. 

I don't know anything about feminist theory, the cultural categorization and villification of women, or the various religious impliciations of late-term abortion, but I do know that making up this baby-killing woman, this selfish, idiotic bitch of a devil and using her to make the point that abortion is bad... well it's unfair, ludicrous, and just plain untrue.  You're using horrific cases with terrible outcomes to evoke an emotional response and gain support for your cause.  You have a valid point?  Then make it without your phantom evil bitch.  Because she's just not real in any kind of measurable number. 

Comments

[so pauvre]

i'm of the "my uterus is my business" belief. i don't agree or disagree with the concept of abortion since i have never been in the position to consider it an option. however, i have known several women who chose to abort (early) as an alternative to raising a child they were not prepared to care for.

i actually had to walk through an abortion protest not that long ago and it upset me to see that the people in it were involving their children. there are a lot more problems in this world worse than what a woman decides to do with her own body, so i wish people would calm the fuck down and stop being so ignorant.

p.s i love your science-y posts.

[ThereseAnn]

"as all they saw physically was an enlarged bladder. The woman told me today that the other issues are going to come for certain, they just aren't able to see them yet."

Sadly for this mother's post you share above, she could have carried to term or attempted too. She was given misinformation -- Not ALL kids with trisomy 13 present ALL the same "text" listed medical issues. They each are as unique as you and I. They surprise us all the time.

Sadly, there are many pressures in the prenatal stage. Not only by how this syndrome is presented by professionals, but also from family and friends. We need to offer Women better support in the prenatal stages.

There will always be abortion. No need to debate that. Whether legal or not. We all know women who suffered the grief of an abortion.

We need to offer our Women more. Especially those with poor prenatally diagnosed children. Heart warming support Photography from Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Trisomy
YouTube videos -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QJF0Cs4f9s
From the Heart of a Parent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGpBeanu4bE
and sites like www.benotafraid.net and www.prenatalpartnersforlife.org are helping families in this situation find HOPE and Support.

I'm an advocate for choosing to carry to term. The internet has provided a wonderful source of support in recent years for families with a poor prenatal diagnosis. Wanted to share this trisomy 13 support community with you.

ThereseAnn, mom to Natalia - full trisomy 13 age 8

[ThereseAnn]

Here's the link...
Living with trisomy 13 - Patau Syndrome
http://www.livingwithtrisomy13.org

[punchanella]

ThereseAnn,

Thank you for that information. I didn't know all the ins and outs of trisomy 13.

Obviously, that isn't the only genetic defect that is diagnosed prenatally, and my opinion still stands that women choosing late-term abortions aren't just crazy women that don't care, but women trying to do the best they can with the information they're given. Personally, I can understand why someone would opt to terminate the pregnancy rather than carry to term and bury a child if the facts they're given is that the baby can't live on it's own.

I agree though, that women deserve to have more information. I'm constantly surprised by how little people know about themselves and their pregnancies.

[Glenda Parkman]

My name is Glenda, and I have 22-year-old daughter, Rebecca, with a translocation trisomy. (The extra chromosome in her cells contains part of the long arm of chromosome 13 and part of the long arm of chromosome 15). Rebecca is developmentally delayed and had three surgeries as an infant/young child, but she can read, write, and calculate. She loves church, baseball (both watching and playing), and her three-day-a-week meeting for higher-functioning young adults with special needs. They do crafts, have a discussion group about a different topic every week, dance, play volleyball, bowl, make crafts, etc. We have many individuals, from babies to a 50-year-old woman, on the www.livingwithtrisomy13.org website with Full, Mosaic, Partial, and Translocation Trisomy 13 on the Children and Adults Living With Trisomy 13 album. The Treasured Memories Album of the site features the stories of families, almost all of whom at least had the chance to hold, kiss, bathe, baptize or dedicate their baby. Some of these babies/children/adults lived for days or even years. Those who lived for years did not exist in a vegetative state. They interacted with their families, giving and receiving love, achieving milestones individual to each child.

I think, rather than picturing an "evil, baby-killing young woman," most Pro-Lifers think of a pressured, often misinformed, young (or even older) Mom. The majority of the Moms on our site were told that their babies would not make it to term, yet the great majority were able to carry to term at the least.

Interestingly, when Rebecca had one of her surgeries, she spent her last day of hospital time sharing a room with a baby whose Mom was told he had anencephaly. She refused to terminate. He was born with a huge cyst, which was shunted shortly after birth. His development from then on was so on track that, when the shunt blocked, the neurosurgeon recommended surgery to remove the cyst. I called his Mom months later to find that her little guy was walking; he was a little over a year old at that point. I know, I know, they're exceptions---but how many exceptions can we be confortable never allowing a chance at a Mother's touch, a Daddy's kiss. Remember, the pregnant 12-year-old you reference is a statistical exception, too.

[punchanella]

Hi Glenda,

Thanks for commenting, I appreciate it.

My over-riding point to my post was that we need to keep in mind that malice is not the motive for most late-term abortions. My blog post was in response to a conversation I had recently with someone who was sure that late-term abortion was the demise of society, allowing willy-nilly murdering of babies. What I'm saying is that whether that exists or not, it's not the norm either, and not was the law is there to protect.

Thanks again.