Need help with abortion comment

[Elzee]

I was told today the following in regard to abortions: “medical field has determined that the “fetal stage” begins at 12 weeks, and Roe v Wade uses that as the standard for abortions”.

I’m confused…anyone know what this means?
Up until what point in this country are abortions legal?

 

[puzzleannie]

Roe v Wade and its companion decision rendered at the same time allow abortion, that is direct murder of the fetus, the entire time of pregnancy up to and including during the birth process. Ask for a source for the assertion. If she is talking about stages of fetal development, yes science has designated stages from zygote, embryo, fetus etc. but the existing US law does not limit abortion to those earlier stages, although some state laws might try.

 

[_Abyssinia]

Observable science says human life begins at conception, this is not a religious or philosophical statement.

Abortion is legal throughout all stages of pregnancy from conception until birth I believe in most if not all states.

• At 4 weeks from conception, a baby’s eye, ear, and respiratory systems begin to form.
• Thumbsucking has been documented at 7 weeks from conception.
• At 8 weeks from conception, a baby’s heartbeat can be detected by ultrasonic stethoscope.
• By 9 weeks from conception, a baby is able to bend her fingers around an object in her hand.
• By 11 to 12 weeks from conception, the baby is breathing fluid steadily and continues to do so until birth.
• By 11 weeks from conception, a baby can swallow.

prolifeaction.org/faq/unborn.php

All before 12 week stage.

 

[Scoobyshme]

There was absolutely no new medical discoveries or research that changed to warrant changing the medical books. Just politics. It’s still a baby at conception. Just not fully formed yet.

 

[1ke]

I was told today the following in regard to abortions: “medical field has determined that the “fetal stage” begins at 12 weeks, and Roe v Wade uses that as the standard for abortions”.

I’m confused…anyone know what this means?
Up until what point in this country are abortions legal?

this is nonsense and it is not supported by the facts.

Abortion is legal up until birth.

 

[Ignatius]

this is nonsense and it is not supported by the facts.

Abortion is legal up until birth.

A recent court dexision makes post natal termination legal in Canada. The judge dismissed the murder of an infant because “only a month before she could have aborted it”

 

[silicasandra]

I was told today the following in regard to abortions: “medical field has determined that the “fetal stage” begins at 12 weeks, and Roe v Wade uses that as the standard for abortions”.

I’m confused…anyone know what this means?
Up until what point in this country are abortions legal?

I’m basing this information on what I remember from a constitutional law class I took in college (the class was five years ago.) I very well could be mixing up details or forgetting something important, and I only took the one class on the subject.

So, based on that, here’s how I would answer you: Roe v. Wade (1973) stipulates that abortion must remain legal for the first trimester (the first 12 weeks) of pregnancy. After that, it is subject to regulation by the states.

However, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992 I think) the Supreme Court ruled that there could be other measures restricting access to abortion even within the first trimester, such as, parental consent in the case of minors.

In some states, the effects of the restrictions make it very difficult for some people to obtain a legal abortion (some states counter the cases’ stipulations by putting tougher regulations on abortion providers - some states have no licensed abortion providers at all.) In other states, there are little to no regulations at all.

If I am remembering correctly, the author of the Roe decision (can’t remember which justice it was now) basically invented the trimester terminology, so that could be what your friend meant. There is nothing any more defining about the 12th week of pregnancy than any other in terms of fetal development, and the baby is in the fetal stage long before that.

So the short answer is: it depends on what state you’re in. Some states it’s “on the books” as being 12 weeks but a person couldn’t get one; and in other states it could be anytime before birth.