Abortion supporter Dr. Leah Torres defended voluntary late-term abortion on Twitter Wednesday, telling a fellow abortion supporter that you’re “not pro-choice” unless you support the option to electively abort a healthy, viable baby at 8 months into a pregnancy.
“I’m pro-choice but there’s no justification for abortion at 8 months when the child could be born alive,” Rita Panahi commented after Torres posted in support of late-term abortion.
“Then you’re not pro-choice,” Torres responded.
Of course, the assertion that being “pro-choice” meant requiring a person to support elective abortion of babies through the third trimester was met with plenty of pushback, including from Panahi, who responded, “Like most *sane* people including the overwhelming majority of pro-choice people I’m against late term abortion. What sort of sick person supports aborting at 8 months when the child can be born alive?”
“The same ‘sick person’ who believes that forcing someone to give birth against their will is inhumane, immoral, and cruel,” Torres answered.
Of course, the good doctor – who presumably has a medical degree that included at least a few basic anatomy and biology courses – seems to have conveniently forgotten that by 8 months pregnant, whether through cesarean section or a vaginal delivery, the woman’s going to give birth either way. There’s no way to magically “poof” the baby out of existence, meaning that an elective abortion at this stage in the game simply changes whether the baby is alive or dead by the time they’re delivered.
Based on years of polling on the subject, public opinion isn’t on Torres’ side here. While the majority of Americans still say they’re in favor of some measure of legal abortion, most of that is relegated to the first trimester, with support for elective abortion plummets quickly once a woman enters the second trimester and nears the so-called “point of viability,” after which a baby has a much higher likelihood of surviving a premature birth.
In fact, only about 13 percent of Americans say they support elective abortion through the third trimester with no restrictions.
So, by Torres’ own standard, only about 1 in 10 Americans are truly “pro-choice.” Sounds good to me.