Considering abortion after 24 weeks? You have options
If you are considering an abortion after 24 weeks, you may be facing fear, pressure, financial concerns, relationship problems, housing instability, or uncertainty about the future.
You do not have to face those circumstances alone. You have options.
At this stage of pregnancy, your baby is highly developed, with a growing nervous system, functioning organs, movement, and the ability to respond to the world around them. Understanding what is happening to your baby is an important part of making an informed decision.
But information is only part of the answer.
If your pregnancy feels impossible, let’s look at what can make it possible.
Know the facts:
What happens after 24 weeks?
By 24 weeks, your baby is no longer simply at an early stage of development. The major structures of the body are formed, the brain and nervous system are rapidly developing, the lungs are maturing, and your baby can move and respond to sounds and other stimulation.
At this stage, survival outside the womb is possible. Advances in neonatal medicine, specialized hospitals and neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) have made it possible for some babies born extremely prematurely to survive and continue developing outside the womb. The chances of survival generally increase with each additional week of pregnancy.
An abortion at this stage ends the life of a developing human being who may already have the capacity to survive outside the womb with intensive medical care.
According to former abortionist Dr. Kathi Aultman,
“Once you get past about 14 or 15 weeks, the baby’s tissues are too strong to be easily easily go through a suction cannula. And that’s the point where an abortionist would use a DNE or dilation and evacuation, commonly called a ‘dismemberment abortion,’ because literally you reach in and just pull off arms and legs and finally crush the body and crush the head to get the baby out. . . . . It normally takes a day or two to get the cervix dilated enough to do that procedure.”
“But at about 23 weeks, again, the baby’s tissues are too tough. They’ve got bones. It’s too hard to do that procedure. And that’s why they do an induction abortion. That’s basically just like when you go in and get an induction because you’re past your due date. They put you into labor, and you deliver your baby. You’ll still go through labor. You may end up with an episiotomy or a C-section because things go awry. Often, they will give a medication to kill the baby first because, in 50% of the cases, those babies will be born alive. And that’s the unforgivable complication. They don’t want a live baby when they’re doing an abortion.”
To abortion advocates, regarding their support for late-term procedures, Dr. Aultman says, “You’re not saving her [the pregnant woman] anything, and you’re giving her a lot of heartache.”
Learn more about fetal development
View a film about fetal development
Learn how abortions are performed
Can they feel pain?
Scientists continue to debate exactly when conscious pain perception begins, but there is growing evidence that the developing fetus has pain-related neurological pathways and responds to invasive procedures with measurable physiological and behavioral changes.
Fetal surgeons use anesthesia and pain management during invasive fetal procedures. Premature babies born around the edge of viability are also routinely treated for pain.
When there is a possibility that an unborn child can experience pain, that possibility deserves to be taken seriously. Unlike fetal surgery, where anesthesia may be used to provide pain relief to the fetus, induced abortions generally do not administer anesthesia to the unborn child.
Learn more about fetal pain here.
You have options
Whatever is making you consider abortion, there may be practical help available.
Need pregnancy support?
Pregnancy resource centers can provide free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, counseling, material assistance, parenting support and referrals.
Find a pregnancy center near you here.
Worried about money?
New Jersey programs can help eligible families with food, health care, cash assistance and other needs. Learn about financial and family assistance in New Jersey.
Learn about NJ specific programs that can help HERE
You can also find a pregnancy center or health center near you through the federal Moms.gov resource hub.
Learn about the NJ Catastrophic Illness In Children Relief fund. The Fund is a financial assistance program for New Jersey Families with potentially catastrophic medical expenses due to a child’s illness or condition.
Worried about housing?
Sheltering programs can provide housing and support for pregnant women and mothers. Find housing resources.
Were you told your baby may not survive?
A serious or life-limiting diagnosis can be devastating. You do not have to end your pregnancy.
Many families choose to continue their pregnancies with support from perinatal hospice and palliative care. These services can help you prepare for your baby’s birth, manage your baby’s needs, and make the most of the time you may have together.
You may have the opportunity to hold your son or daughter, comfort your baby, and create a more peaceful experience for you both that abortion does not provide. Women who deliver babies in these situations even describe a long-lasting “joy” they received during the precious few moments they had with their child.
Dr. Aultman says, “Most of the time people say, well, late-term abortions are done because of fetal anomalies or because the mother’s health is at risk. If the mother’s health is at risk, you just deliver the baby. You don’t have to kill the baby. Now, the baby might not survive, but you’re not actively killing that baby. That baby has a chance.”
“And sometimes a doctor’s prenatal diagnosis is not right. So there are healthy babies that are being aborted. Or there are babies being aborted for minimal abnormalities. People want a perfect baby. Is that something we really want to be doing as a society? Even in the cases where the baby may die in utero, it’s much more damaging to the mother to put her in a position where you’re telling her she needs to abort her baby for her baby’s good.”
“Perinatal Hospice can counsel the mother and prepare her for that inevitability. Then she knows that she has done everything she could to give that baby all of the life it was going to have. So psychologically, that’s much better.”
Learn more about perinatal hospice and palliative care here.
Worried about child care?
Financial assistance may be available to help eligible families afford child care. Learn about child care assistance.
Not ready to parent?
Adoption can provide a permanent family for your child. Foster care and other resources can also provide support. Learn more about adoption and foster care in New Jersey, or explore national adoption resources through Moms.gov.
You don’t have to make this decision alone
You may have arrived here because someone told you that abortion is your only option.
It isn’t.
You can learn what is happening to your baby. You can talk to someone who will listen. You can identify the problems making your pregnancy feel impossible. And you can find people willing to help you address those problems.
Before making a decision that cannot be undone, take the time to learn what your options really are.
You have options. You have support. And your baby has a future.
Adapted for New Jersey with permission from Massachusetts Citizens for Life (MCFL). New Jersey-specific resources and links have been provided by New Jersey Right to Life.