What is a so-called “late-term” abortion?
“Late term” abortion typically refers to abortions obtained at or after
21 weeks, however it is not an accepted medical term, nor is there a consensus around to which gestational ages it refers. Members of the
medical community have criticized the term “late-term” abortion, as it implies abortions are taking place after a pregnancy has reached “term” (37 weeks) or “late term” (>41 weeks) which is false. In fact, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (
ACOG) has written that “late-term abortion” has no medical meaning. As such, this brief discusses abortions occurring at ≥21 weeks gestation as
abortions later in pregnancy, but it should be noted that 21 weeks is a largely arbitrary cutoff based on how the
CDC collects data on abortions. Abortions at this stage in pregnancy are sometimes referred to as “
later abortions” by the medical community as well.
How do states restrict or regulate abortions later in pregnancy?
On June 24, 2022, in
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the Supreme Court overturned
Roe and eliminated the federal constitutional standard that had protected the right to abortion. Without any federal standards, states can now set their own policies banning or protecting abortion at any point in pregnancy. This has drastically changed the landscape of abortion in the United States, as 14 states have now
banned abortion at any stage of pregnancy and 11 others have gestational limits banning abortion after a certain point in pregnancy, such as before cardiac activity is detected in the fetus or up to a certain number of weeks of pregnancy.