[squirrely girl]

Ugh... I loathe that every time the 20 week bans are discussed, the conversation turns to the earliest possible live birth and other anecdotes. Medically, viability refers to the point in gestation at which, with EXCELLENT medical care and a lot of LUCK, about ***HALF*** of fetuses could possibly survive... and even then they are looking at lengthy and expensive NICU stays. It's essentially a 50-50 point in development. Viability is NOT 20 weeks. So essentially these bans are arguing that there is no real acceptable reason for abortion at a point in which only anecdote and conjecture exist for successful live births.

Abortions after 20 weeks account for about 1 1/2 percent of all abortions performed in the US each year... the profound majority are performed on women with wanted pregnancies that developed abnormally with fetal conditions incompatible with life (see: anencephaly) and in cases preserving the life/health of the woman.

This is nowhere near a "middle ground" issue... unless you think forcing women to carry malformed pregnancies to term against their will is a swell idea.

Folks with shit for medical expertise need to excise themselves from other folks' medical decisions. End of story.