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Judi Lynn

(160,542 posts) Tue Nov 6, 2012, 07:35 AM Nov 2012

U.S. appeals court questions Arizona's late-term abortion ban

Source: Reuters

U.S. appeals court questions Arizona's late-term abortion ban
Tue, 6 Nov 2012 01:41 GMT
Source: reuters // Reuters
By Ronnie Cohen

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court panel on Monday sharply questioned lawyers defending an Arizona law that bans late-term abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy except in medical emergencies, which opponents say is the toughest in the United States.

In San Francisco, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case after it blocked the Republican-backed Arizona law from going into effect earlier this year. Three abortion providers challenged the law in court.

The Arizona law bars doctors from performing abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy, except in medical emergencies, and could send doctors who perform them to jail.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is suing to stop the law, said it was more extreme than similar laws elsewhere, because the way Arizona measures gestation means it would bar abortions two weeks earlier than in other states.

Read more: http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/us-appeals-court-questions-arizonas-late-term-abortion-ban

2 replies

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U.S. appeals court questions Arizona's late-term abortion ban (Original Post) Judi Lynn Nov 2012 OP

The anti-choice people dont understand that Ilsa Nov 2012 #1

Here's the way it goes spinbaby Nov 2012 #2

Ilsa

(61,695 posts)

1. The anti-choice people dont understand that

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Tue Nov 6, 2012, 08:02 AM

Nov 2012

What they are doing could cause more late term abortions. Here's how:
A woman gets an ultrasound at 18 weeks and it looks like there could be fluid on the brain of the fetus, hydrocephaly. The normal routine is to wait until week 24 to see if it resolved or got worse. So now it's decision time: terminate now or wait and if the fetus has a bad case of hydrocephaly, it'll be too late to terminate at 24 weeks.
And parents don't make that decision in a vacuum. They consider the other children they have, their ability to assist in the care of a disabled child, etc.

spinbaby

(15,090 posts)

2. Here's the way it goes

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Tue Nov 6, 2012, 09:50 AM

Nov 2012

At four months you get a blood test. There's a problem--maybe Down syndrome. Ultrasound looks abnormal. You do an amnio and wait. Baby has triploidy--three sets of chromosomes instead of two. Condition is incompatible with life--the fetus will probably die well before birth but not before causing complications that threaten the mother, notably toxemia.

This happened to a woman I know. Insurance wouldn't pay to terminate the pregnancy until after the fetus had died.

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