January 2015 - Lozier Institute

6 results

Late-Term Abortion: Many-Layered Social Injustice

The issue of late-term abortion is among the most agonizing and controversial areas within the larger, contentious debate on the

Charles A. “Chuck” Donovan

January 20, 2015

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The Reality of Late-Term Abortion Procedures

Of interest to the medical, moral, sociological, and political issues surrounding late-term abortion is the question of why women seek abortion after twenty weeks gestation. Any data considered to answer this question must be examined carefully for limitations. However, a greater understanding of the reasons why women choose these late-term procedures is valuable to those who seek to offer alternative, compassionate options.

Elizabeth Ann M. Johnson, M.D.

January 20, 2015

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The Constitutional Viability of Five-Month Abortion Laws

Five-month abortion laws restrict abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy—when an unborn child can feel pain from abortion. Opponents of five-month abortion laws argue they violate the “viability rule” created by the U.S. Supreme Court. The viability rule provides that government “may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability.” In most cases viability will occur after 20 weeks of pregnancy. However, the viability rule is unworkable, arbitrary, unjust, poorly reasoned, inadequate, and extreme. The viability rule cannot be justified, especially as applied to five-month laws. In a challenge to a five-month law it is reasonable to conclude that the Court might abandon the viability rule altogether or not apply it to five-month laws.