The problem with this entire conversation is that we're not defining our terms.

For instance, there's no medical procedure called "partial birth abortion," - the legal definition used by the Supreme Court includes some procedures that happen early in the 2nd trimester. The Gonzales decision that banned "partial birth abortions," allows certain 2nd and early 3rd trimester procedures, just not the ones that are often safest for the woman.

Abortions in the 3rd trimester are so rare that only a handful of doctors do them nationwide and I feel pretty confident saying that they only happen for serious medical reasons where the life of the mother is at risk. Those doctors spend a lot of time and effort vetting their patients.

So saying that you want to ban mental health reasons for third trimester abortions is kind of ridiculous. But maybe they mean 2nd trimester by "late term," or "halfway through the second trimester." I just wish people would be clear about this stuff because it changes the terms of the debate.

The other thing is, advances in medicine keep pushing back the threshold for viability. Roe allows abortions for any reason up to viability. Historically, that's been 28 weeks, but can now be as early as 24 weeks (end of the second trimester). But still, only 1.4% of abortions happen after 21 weeks.

It's a complicated topic, so I wish people would be a little more clear about it.