The abortion timing is very significant. This concerns both the method of procedure used in the abortion, and when permitting the legality of the abortion procedure in certain countries. Definite abortion procedures can only be performed at an exact time during the gestational period. Besides, according to new legislation in the United States certain procedures are banned. In addition, the major debate about abortion: - When does life begin? - is central to the question of the timing of different abortions?
Throughout the first twelve weeks of pregnancy (called the first trimester) - surgical abortions can be performed by Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA), Electric Vacuum Aspiration (EVA), and Dilation and Curettage (D&C). Chemical abortion can be done by using mifepristone. In the second trimester, which is weeks 13 through 27, the timing of different abortions is more significant. Abortion throughout this time can be performed by D&C for the first few weeks of the second trimester. Furthermore, Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) can be used, as well as the late-term abortion methods like hysterotomy, Intact Dilation and Extraction (IDX), and Early Induced Labor (also called Induced Miscarriage).
The query of the timing of different abortions turns out when talking about late-term abortion. It is hard to identify late-term abortion, as it is not a medically acknowledged term. In actual fact, it has more to do with the problem of the vital capacity of the fetus. As all pregnancies are different so different fetuses are viable at different phases of the pregnancy. The fundamental principle is that most fetuses are not of great vitality before the 20th week of pregnancy, and most fetuses are viable after the 27th week of pregnancy. The period between the 20th and the 27th week of gestation turns out to be a touchy subject when looking at the timing of different abortions.
The United States Supreme Court case, Roe vs. Wade declared that state governments can implement more limitations on late-stage abortions than they can on early-stage abortions, supplied that the state law permits concerns of the mother’s health. At present, there are 16 states that have bans on late-term abortions. Most late-term abortions are performed because of fetal abnormalities, or for the reason that the mother was unable to have an abortion earlier because of financial aspects or because she didn’t know that she was pregnant. For late-term abortions owing to fetal abnormality, Early Induction of Labor or IDX is used, although IDX is now illegal in the US. The ban on IDX is under debate in the United States Supreme Court right now. For elective late-term abortions, D&E is usually used.
The main problems at the center of the dispute about the timing of different abortions often have to do with fetal pain. Definite groups say that the fetus can experience pain in the first trimester of gestation. Others state that fetal pain is not felt until the neurological receptors have developed completely, and this does not happen until the second or third trimester.
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