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From: garys@bunker.UUCP (Gary M. Samuelson)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: Legality of Late Abortions (Roe V. Wade)
Message-ID: <1028@bunker.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 24-Oct-85 18:25:02 EDT
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Posted: Thu Oct 24 18:25:02 1985
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> BTW, for those who believe that abortion after the 7th month is
> illegal:  the last I heard, you can get an abortion ANY TIME if
> you can get your doctor to agree that it would be physically or
> _emotionally_ damaging for you to continue the pregnancy.

> 			Marlene Phillips

Marlene is essentially correct, and I would like to use the above
remarks as a springboard into a discussion of the (in)famous
Roe v. Wade case, which overturned all the existing laws against
abortion in the USA.  Besides the obvious consequences, I
would like to see discussion on the reasoning behind the decision,
though I don't have time to start on that right now.

As a result of Roe v. Wade, abortion is legal at any time before
delivery.  Quoting from _The Least of These_, by Curt Young:

	1. During the first third of pregnancy, abortion is legal
	   for any reason as long as a licensed physician performs
	   the procedure.
	2. During the middle third of pregnancy, abortion is also
	   legal, for any reason, but states may pass laws intended
	   to protect the health of the mother...
	3. During the last months of pregnancy, when the baby is
	   clearly able to survive outside the womb -- is viable --
	   if given the best medical treatment available, the Court
	   ruled that a state "may, if it chooses, regulate, and
	   even proscribe, abortion except where it is necessary,
	   in appropriate medical judgment, for the preservation
	   of the life or the health of the mother." [Roe v. Wade,
	   410 US 113 at 164-65]

[Note the material indirectly quoted from the Court's decision.]

I know that some states attempted to pass laws restricting 3rd
trimester abortions, which laws were struck down by subsequent
Supreme Court rulings.  If anyone knows any such laws which have
not been overturned, I would be pleased to know about them.

Note that abortion must be allowed for the preservation of the
life OR THE HEALTH of the mother.  It is not necessary that a
pregnancy threaten the mother's life; only her health.  Physical?
Emotional? Mental?  Presumably a threat to any aspect of her
health is sufficient grounds for abortion.  How does one determine
if such a threat exists?  "Appropriate medical judgment" --
for example, the opinion of a physician who makes a living
performing abortions would suffice.

(Does anyone know if the concept of "trimesters" in pregnancy
existed before the Court's ruling?  They don't seem to correspond
to any particular event in fetal development.)

Gary Samuelson
ittatc!bunker!garys