Some of you may have read my other post entitled "abortions to 24 weeks"

I just wanted to share my new perspective on it.

I was talking about the issue with a friend of mine and she explained to me a situation her aunt found herslef in. She had a planned pregnancy and at 21 weeks her doctors informed her that the baby would not survive birth.

Now carrying the pregnancy wouldnt threaten her health.

But is it really fair to force a woman to carry a child that will most likeley die?

This is why bans on late term abortions with exceptions for health of the mother are meaningless, because there are legitamate reasons for a woman to have a late term abortion even if her health isnt in danger.

I hope my renewal of perspective opens other peoples minds.

Glad to see you looked into it. I was also against late-term abortion completely until I read up on it from the other side and realized that almost all late-term abortions are performed for reasons like you've cited above. Medical doctors do not even recognize it as an abortion in the sense that the "birth control" types of abortions are.
I've gone from pro-choice to pro-life and then back to a shaky middleground. What I really don't like is the mentality that a baby is extra tissue to be discarded. But I also do not like the social forces that push young women naively to see abortion as a solution. And I don't like the infanticides and abandonings that occur when abortion is simply made illegal.
Both sides of the issue need to be more compassionate, the left toward the unborn and the right toward those already here.

__________________
"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside

I can find no statistical evidence to support you contention. Perhaps you can do better.

http://en.allexperts.com/e/l/la/late-term_abortion.htm
Reasons a woman might have a late-term abortion include:
* She was not aware she was pregnant until late in the pregnancy
* She could not obtain transportation to a clinic earlier in the pregnancy
* She could not obtain money for the abortion earlier in the pregnancy
* Her financial situation had a sudden drastic deterioration late in the pregnancy
* A fetal abnormality was diagnosed late in the pregnancy
* Continuing the pregnancy posed a risk to her life or health
* She elected to wait to make her decision to abort
* She faced a legal/political obstacle/restriction that prevented her from obtaining an abortion earlier in the pregnancy

There is very little data on how common each of these reasons are. In 1987, the Alan Guttmacher Institute collected questionnaires from 1,900 women who were at abortion clinics procuring abortions. Of the 1,900, 420 had been pregnant for 16 or more weeks. These 420 women were asked to choose among a menu of reasons why they had not obtained the abortions earlier in their pregnancies. Two percent (2%) said "a fetal problem was diagnosed late in pregnancy." 71% responded "did not recognize that she was pregnant or misjudged gestation," 48% said "found it hard to make arrangements," and 33% said "was afraid to tell her partner or parents." The report did not indicate that any of the 420 abortions after 16 weeks were performed because of maternal health problems.Why Do Women Have Abortions?, Family Planning Perspectives, July/August 1988.

__________________
Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. It's a dumb question... skip it.

The lack of statistical data makes the word of a few doctors who perform such information heavier. Until data is taken, that is the best information I have. It is better data than what we get from pro-life orgs who use information that is purely emotional, focusing on the brutality required of such an operation, but never giving the context.
The doctors use another word for what the pro-life groups call "late term abortion". Unfortunately I've only heard it used on the radio and can't remember what the hell the operation is called.
I do not believe for a second the cynical response which is that "the doctors make up the reasoning in order to keep their money-making", not only because I'm not that cynical, but because these doctors do much more than that surgery.
However since this is episodic evidence rather than statistical, it is possible these doctors are not the norm. If that is the case, these doctors should be the norm amongst doctors performing such surgeries.

And anyway you look at it, the fact that it happens (and it seems to happen often) makes it difficult to stand behind a black and white law.

__________________
"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside