Late Term Abortion Research Paper

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Late-term abortion, also known as partial-birth abortion, is any type of abortion performed in the second and third trimester. Late-term abortion can be performed using several different procedures, but one of the main procedures is Intact Dilation and Evacuation (D&X) (Ballaro and Wagner 1). Late-term abortion should become illegal in the United States because this procedure is inhumane to the fetus. Studies have shown a fetus is viable at twenty weeks of gestation. Additionally, the mother and fetus should have the same rights. The mother isn't more human than the fetus. Also, the late-term abortion procedures are immoral. Lastly, late-term abortion isn't the only way out of certain situations. Late-term abortion should become illegal …show more content…

In 1973, The Supreme Court dealt with its first court case on abortion, Roe v. Wade. Jane Roe filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County at the time, for enforcing the law which prohibited abortion, except when saving the mother's life. The Roe v. Wade's outcome upheld the right for states to completely ban third-trimester abortions (Ballaro and Wagner 2). Then in 1981, the very first open-womb surgery was performed. Michael Harrison, MD, and a team of physicians performed the surgery to know more about the fetus inside the womb. During the 1981 surgery, physicians were able to observe unborn children reacting to painful stimuli. This surgery is why physicians recommended administering anesthesia to an unborn child at around twenty weeks (Johnson 2). In the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey court case, Casey believed that pregnant women should have the constitutional right to choose abortion even if the fetus is viable (Appleton 1). The Supreme Court reaffirmed the Roe v. Wade holding five to four in the outcome of Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The outcome of these two-court cases ruled abortion legal. Women should have more rights than a fetus. After the Planned v. Casey court case, nothing was legally done with late-term abortion until

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