The laws regarding abortion are generally thought to be confusing, and many people do not understand them.
For example, a lot of people are under the impression that abortion is only legal in the 1st and 2nd trimesters.
However, in many locations, abortion is actually legal all nine months of the pregnancy.
This was the result of the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions [1].
It might seem like abortion is only legal early on because the over 60% of abortions are committed at 9 weeks or earlier [2].
However, this does not mean that abortion is uncommon from there on out.
The other 40% of abortions still happen at some later point during the pregnancy.
In fact, it was not until the 2007 Carhart v. Gonzales case when the Supreme Court finally came out and said that that the ban on late term, partial-birth abortions would be upheld [3].
If more people realize the truth about the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions, it is likely that there would be much stronger opposition to abortion today.
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References
[1] Cornell University Law School. (1973a). “Roe v. Wade (No. 70-18).” Legal Information. Cornell University Law School, 13 Dec 1973. Web. 15 Jul 2011. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0410_0113_ZS.html
[2] Guttmacher Institute. (2011). “Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States .”Guttmacher Institute, May 2011. Web. 12 Jun 2011. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html
[3] Cornell University Law School. (2007). ” Gonzales vs. Carhart.”Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School, 18 Apr 2007. Web. 15 Jul 2011. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/05-380.ZS.html
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