Late Term Abortion Research Paper

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Late-Term Abortion
A Colorado woman accused of cutting open the belly of a pregnant woman, who was responding to a Craigslist ad, and removing the unborn child to show her family she was expecting a baby herself, is not being charged with murder. Under Colorado law, the perpetrator can only face such murder charges if the baby was alive outside the womb. Abortion opponents in Colorado have unsuccessfully pressed actions to pronounce a fetus as a human being, which would thus enable homicide charges to be filed for their bereavements. (Lacey-Bourdeaux) In simple terms, and granted current abortion laws, an abortion was performed outside of a clinic. The process of late-term abortion generally involves predominantly ghastly surgical practices
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Davenport) However, late-term abortion is not clearly defined and thus poses controversy within the issue. In the notable 1973 Roe V. Wade Supreme Court case, it was ruled seven to two that a right to discretion under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment also extended to a woman’s decision to proceed with an abortion. However, this right must be composed against the state’s two legitimate interests in guideline abortions: protecting the health of the mother and protecting the life of the fetus. (Mary L. Davenport) Late-term abortion is not technically an exact medical term, but it has been commonly used to refer to “the clinical dilation & evacuation abortions as well as intact dilation & extraction (partial-birth) abortions performed in the second and third trimesters.” (King) The graphic, revolting nature of these abortion procedures performed on fetuses of such advanced incubation poses much opposition, even amid individuals who might upkeep pro-choice during earlier stages of pregnancies. "The American people are generally much more pro-life than people think," said Charmaine Yoest, head of Americans United for Life, an advocacy group that opposes abortion rights. "They may not want to overturn Roe, but they do want common-sense restrictions." (King) Women should be granted the right to choose what happens to their body, but in a timely …show more content…
The Supreme Court has recognized that “viability varies among pregnancies and that improvements in medical technology will advance earlier in gestation at the point of fetal viability.” (Pieklo) Technology is always evolving, and babies are able to survive longer and longer outside of the womb when not full-term. Late-term abortion will soon become legalized murder if the law is not changed. It was and still is common practice for late term abortion, specifically Tiller’s office, to make an injection directly into the fetus with a substance termed digoxin to “expire” the baby painlessly. It is said to cause a painless heart attack, yet those who have experienced major heart attacks claim them to be rather frightening and extremely painful. It is also very well documented and acknowledged that babies in later stages of gestation can feel pain, and at least one other study indicates that babies even as young as 6-8 weeks in gestation can feel pain. (Operation Rescue) Tiller clearly believed that these late second and third trimester fetuses are able to feel pain, and thus used his lethal injection as a means of alleviating concerns of abortion

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