What You Need to Know About Trump’s Lies About Abortions Later in Pregnancy
By Melanie Newman, Senior Vice President for Communications & Culture | April 30, 2019, 7:15 p.m.
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Don’t get manipulated by propaganda and misinformation. Trump’s claims about abortion later in pregnancy are not true. This is a manufactured controversy.
Abortion care later in pregnancy is extremely rare. According to the CDC, 99% of abortions occur before 21 weeks.
An abortion that happens later in pregnancy is because of very challenging circumstances, such as when something in the pregnancy has gone very wrong and a woman’s life or health is in danger or the fetus will not survive.
Women and families in these situations face devastating decisions. They deserve our compassion and support—not our judgment and certainly not politicians telling them what to do.
How dare President Trump use situations when families are in the most devastating circumstances of their lives, for his own political benefit? How dare he—or any other politician—think he knows better than women and their doctors when it comes to their own decisions and lives in these situations?
At a time of rising maternal mortality, politicians are pursuing a coordinated attack on women’s health care in this country. Right now, 290 anti-abortion laws are pending in 45 states that directly restrict the right to safe, legal abortion. Four states have passed bills just this year that would ban abortion at six weeks—when most women don’t even know that they’re pregnant.
- Ohio’s governor signed a bill that doesn’t allow abortion even in cases of rape and incest.
- A bill in Alabama would put doctors in jail for 99 years.
- A bill in Texas sought to impose the death penalty for women.
These same politicians have restricted birth control, cut sex education, and dismantled health care programs for women with low incomes.
This is a health-care issue. A patient’s health should drive important medical decisions, not a politician’s beliefs. These issues are between women, their families, their faith, and their doctors.
Don’t believe the propaganda.
- Learn about families who have experienced abortion later in pregnancy.
- See this recent New York Times fact check of Trump’s lies.
- Read this Washington Post piece explaining the motivations behind the rhetoric.
