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Dear
L.A.H.,
To
get the actual number of abortions
that are third trimester, check
the Alan
Guttmacher Institute or
with Planned
Parenthood Federation of America.
I do know that it is a very
small percentage and that the
majority of these happen because
it is medically necessary for
a woman to have this late of
an abortion in order to save
her life or because the fetus
is so badly damaged.
Access
to third-trimester abortions
is restricted mainly because
of the prohibitive costs of
them. An increasing number of
women don't have access to medical
insurance, which makes this
procedure further prohibitive
to many women. The procedure
itself is very costly because
it has to happen in a hospital,
not in a clinic, where 1st and
2nd trimester abortions can
take place. A further cost is
transportation--which is an
issue for rural women.
A
further threat to such procedures
is a Congressional bill that
would ban "so-called partial
birth abortions." Congress has
proposed such a bill in the
past three sessions, but Clinton
has refused to sign it. Bush
will likely sign it if such
a bill makes its way to him.
This bill would ban a certain
procedure -- and this is the
procedure mostly used in late-term
abortions, but not solely. Also,
this would be the first time
that Congress enacted a bill
that would go against a recommendation
by the American Medical Association,
which is that such a procedure
is safe and necessary.
I
hope this helps - and thanks
for being so committed to the
issue.
—Amy
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