The other day I noted that notorious late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart will begin performing late-term abortions in Maryland starting next week. I noted that “late-term” usually refers to any abortion after 20 weeks. But how late in a pregnancy will Carhart and other abortionists perform abortions? This can be a confusing question to answer – even my original post incorrectly stated that only a very few abortionists performs abortions after 20 weeks.

Over the years, many publications, both pro-life and mainstream, have noted that there are very few abortionists who perform late-term abortions. Usually, three men are mentioned: George Tiller of Kansas (now deceased), LeRoy Carhart of Nebraska, and Warren Hern of Colorado. Sometimes also Martin Haskell of Ohio will be mentioned, as he is the man who popularized the gruesome D&X abortion procedure known as “partial-birth abortion”. However, this small number of men, as GetReligion recently noted, seems to conflict with the reality:

I had happened to read a link to a much more recent survey than the 2001 cited by Stein in his reports last year. It appeared at the pro-life news site LifeNews. It cited a 2008 report, based on 2005 data, from The Guttmacher Institute. That institute used to be Planned Parenthood’s research arm, although it’s now independent of the country’s largest abortion provider. Anyway, the 2008 study indicates that they found 1,787 abortion doctors. Only 20 percent offer abortions after 20 weeks gestation, and only 8 percent offer abortions after 24 weeks. I think the earliest a baby has survived is around 21 weeks gestation…

So that means that some 350 doctors perform abortions after 20 weeks and more than 140 perform after 24 weeks.

What is even more confusing is that media reports suggest that Carhart himself doesn’t perform abortions after 24 weeks. An article this week in the Baltimore Sun noted,

In a 2009 interview with Newsweek, [Carhart] said that he does not perform elective abortions past 24 weeks into a pregnancy, when a fetus has a good chance of survival.

So, what is the truth? Do only a handful of abortionists perform late-term abortions, or do hundreds? Does Carhart perform the later late-term abortions, or doesn’t he? As is usual in the abortion debate, getting to the truth means translating euphemisms and digging deeper than most mainstream media reports will dig.

The reality is that Carhart and Hern (and Tiller before his death) are willing to do abortions throughout the full term of a pregnancy, even into the third trimester (i.e. after 28 weeks). Most abortionists who perform late-term abortions will only do them during the second trimester, often making their cut-off around 26 weeks. But Carhart and Hern have no such restrictions. This statement might seem to contradict the quote from the Baltimore Sun above, but we need to look at it more closely:

In a 2009 interview with Newsweek, [Carhart] said that he does not perform elective abortions past 24 weeks into a pregnancy, when a fetus has a good chance of survival.

Note the word “elective”. What that means is that Carhart will perform abortions up to 24 weeks for no reason at all – just ask for it, and he’ll perform it. However, Carhart’s website states that he offers:

Providing:

Medical Abortions

• Elective Surgical 1st and 2nd Trimester Abortions up to viability
• Advanced Gestation Abortions for Maternal and Fetal Indications

Note the second type of abortion he provides: “Advanced Gestation Abortions for Maternal and Fetal Indications”. What does that sentence mean? It means that he will provide abortions at “advanced gestation”, i.e. the third trimester, as long as there is a reason. But what kind of reason would be accepted as legitimate? That is all based on the judgement of the abortionist himself, which in practice means any reason at all is acceptable.

If the child has Downs Syndrome, that would be a “fetal indication”, thus justifying a third-trimester abortion. If the mother has a health risk from the pregnancy, that would be a “maternal indication” justifying an abortion after 28 weeks. In fact, if the mother felt that she was not able to have a baby, that too could be a “maternal indication” that Carhart could use to abort a baby in the third-trimester of pregnancy. In other words, Carhart will perform abortions throughout a pregnancy for any reason – or no reason – whatsoever. This sets him apart from even the vast majority of late-term abortionists. (And note that Maryland has one of the most permissive abortion laws in the country, so all of this is “legal”).

If you live in the DC area, please consider coming to a prayer vigil and protest being held at Carhart’s new abortion facility in Germantown, MD on Monday, December 6th (Carhart’s first day on the job and the feast of St. Nicholas – the patron of children) at 11am. Contact me if you want further details.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!
St. Nicholas, pray for us!