First, let’s clear things up: abortion ends a pregnancy, not the life of a child who has already been born (1). An ‘after-birth abortion’ is not a real thing.
Second, the misconception that abortions that take place after 20 weeks, are common and involve the k*lling of newborns is not only false but also dangerous. *Note: ‘late-term abortion’ is not a medical term but a political one.
The reality is, the vast majority of abortions happen before 20 weeks. In fact, almost 87% are performed during the first trimester* (i.e. first 12 weeks). Abortions performed after 21 weeks are extremely rare, representing an estimated 1.29% of all abortions performed in Canada (2). They typically occur under very sensitive circumstances, often after a diagnosis of a severe fetal abnormality or a serious health threat detected later in pregnancy (1,3,4,5).
People who oppose abortion will often use these rare cases to elicit an emotional response and push for broader restrictions on all abortions. But abortion in the second and third trimester of pregnancy is a medical necessity for a small number of people facing severe health challenges (4,6).
*Data collection on abortions is done by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) (7). Note that as of 2021, CIHI no longer collects gestational age and complication rates from hospitals because this data represents only a small proportion of abortions in Canada, and is not representative of all abortions across all settings. The data mentioned here was collected in 2020 and reported in 2024.
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Sources: https://tinyurl.com/SUFAbortionMisinfo
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Abortion ends a pregnancy, not the life of a child who has already been born. An ‘after-birth abortion’ isn't a real thing.
— ScienceUpFirst | LaScienced'Abord (@ScienceUpFirst) July 25, 2024
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