Does a low percentage help you feel better?

How many of those who support the legal "right" to abortion understand that abortions can be done past 21 weeks of gestation? Many people that I talk to do not know this. Most are ignorant of this fact. Then, if one is not ignorant of this fact he says "only 1% of all abortions are done past 21 weeks!"

What, then, is 1% of all abortions in the United States of America? Let's see... I was just looking at a journal article from the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology which cited that "in 1999, 9,643 abortions were performed at [greater than or equal to] 21 weeks’ gestation, representing only 1.5% of total abortions reported"(1)(2).


Fetus at 22 weeks gestational age(3)

At 20 weeks gestational age the fetal "nervous system is starting to function; [the fetus] can suck a thumb, yawn, stretch, and make faces"(4). Furthermore, many studies suggest that the unborn fetus can now experience pain: "new evidence...has persuaded [Dr. Kanwaljeet "Sunny" Anand] that fetuses can feel pain by 20 weeks gestation and possibly earlier"(5).

10,000 abortions for therapeutic reasons a year and hardly a peep of outrage from the public. Do the research for yourself and understand the horror that abortion really is. Maybe people will just continue to hide behind the idea that 1% is such a small percentage...

1. The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, (2004) Volume 190, pages 1180-3 PDF FILE

2. Elam-Evans LD, Strauss LT, Herndon J, Parker WY, Whitehead S, Berg CJ. Abortion surveillancedUnited States, 1999. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2002;51:1-28

3. Retrieved from "A Woman's Right to Know" on 5/28/2009 URL LINK Photograph by Lennart Nilsson URL LINK

4. WebMD, Fetal Development Timeline, reviewed by Matthew Hoffman, MD, URL LINK

5. New York Times Magazine, Fetal Pain, written by Annie Paul, Feb. 2008, URL LINK