The Controversy Around Partial Birth Abortion

Partial birth abortion is a controversial term. There are different opinions about this specific procedure, where the baby MAY remain alive even after the abortion.

What Is Partial Birth Abortion?

It is the abortion that takes place in the second trimester – usually in week 22-26 of the pregnancy. The complete pregnancy duration is 40 weeks. Therefore, it is very clear that getting the abortion at this stage may risk the life of baby as well as the mother. However, those who are in favor of making this kind of abortion legal claim no risk. Nevertheless, the statistics do not support their claim. In most cases, the baby is born dead, and even if it is born alive, it does not live for long. Still, in some cases, the baby has been found to live a long life, but it does not live a “normal healthy” life. After all, it is obvious that since the baby is delivered 15-20 weeks before maturity, the development of the body is not complete.

Another reason that is often given in favor of this late-term abortion procedure is that even if during the second trimester if it is necessary to save the life of the mother, it should be legalized. Well, at this point, almost everybody has the same opinion that when it comes to safety of the mother, there is nothing wrong in performing partial birth abortion. The actual controversy lies in whether or not it should be performed in with concurrence of all – even if there are no safety issues. They find it simply a grotesque procedure. For them, it is a crime equivalent to murdering someone.

Another important thing regarding this procedure is that those who are against it do not prefer to use the term “partial birth abortion”. Those who are for the procedure are also against the term. That is the reason why it has not yet been approved as a medical term. None of the Medical Associations of the world including the American Medical Association has recognized it as a medical term. Those who are against it prefer to use the term “Partial Truth Abortion” instead.

Despite all the controversies and debates regarding the issue, it is also a known fact that there is a partial birth abortion law that makes the late-term abortion procedure legal in almost the entire United States of America.

Whether the partial birth abortion procedure should be legalized or not – it is a different issue. The political world is debating on this issue – that is fine. However, the sad part of the story is that even the medical world has been divided into two groups where one group finds it safe while the other claims it to be risky for both the mother as well as the baby.