The Medical (and Political) Problem with 20-Week Abortion Bans

July 15 protest rally in Austin against anti-abortion legislation / Photo by Mirsasha The recent wave of anti-abortion legislation has caused much confusion and concern over what the future of reproductive healthcare might look like in a few years. Texas recently enacted a 20-week abortion ban, and 13 states have passed similar bans. In Congress, Republican senators are pushing to bring a 20-week abortion ban up for a vote after the August recess, reports The New York Times. Let’s first look at the language in these bills, which usually reference “20 weeks post-fertilization.” Aside from the restrictive issues, these post-fertilization bans present a major problem — that’s not how pregnancy is measured. When a doctor or midwife indicates that someone is “20 weeks pregnant,” what they mean is that it has been 20 weeks since the first day of the last menstrual period (or LMP). This can be a bit confusing, because the first day of the last period is not when ovulation followed by fertilization actually occur. This LMP method is used because it’s the easiest to measure. While ovulation is often estimated at about two weeks after the start of the last menstrual period, it can occur at different times for different people, making it impossible to know exactly when ovulation — or fertilization or implantation, for that matter — occurred. LMP, however, is something we can point to on a calendar and is easily knowable. That...
Source: Our Bodies Our Blog - Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Tags: Abortion & Reproductive Rights Legal Politics Pregnancy & Childbirth Source Type: blogs