Roe v. Wade established women’s constitutional rights to decide whether we will carry pregnancies to term. It is unconstitutional to impose any ban on abortions. Yet on Wednesday May 13, Congress voted 242 to 184 to ban abortions after 20 weeks of gestation. The ban will make it impossible for women to abort babies that are seriously ill, fail to develop properly or when a pregnancy threatens the mom’s life.
Don’t get me wrong – I hate the idea of aborting a fetus this far advanced in term. But this is an important point: doctors who could perform an abortion of this type probably hate it more, so it will always be difficult to find a doctor willing to perform a late term abortion. Except when there is clear medical need.