Third Trimester Abortion:
Pregnancy Without Pounds!Third Trimester Abortion procedures include: Dilation and Evacuation (D&E), Early Induction of Labor, and Intact Dilation and eXtraction (IDX or D&X), sometimes referred to as "partial-birth abortion." Abortions performed because of fetal abnormality are usually performed with induction of labor or with IDX. Elective late-term abortions are usually performed with D&E.
Third Trimester Abortion procedures also often employ Instillation techniques. These techniques involve abortionists injecting lethal chemicals with the intention of killing the baby, but sometimes resulting in the birth of a severely injured, but living, baby.
D&X, also called the partial-birth abortion, is performed on babies from the fifth month of development until birth. This procedure, which takes three days to complete, has prompted controversy because of its particularly brutal nature. The abortionist begins by dilating the woman's cervix for two days. On the third day, the abortionist pulls the baby through the birth canal feet first, leaving only the head inside. The abortionist then punctures the base of the skull with surgical scissors, inserts a tube and vacuums out the brain tissue, causing the skull to collapse.
Countries, by restrictiveness of abortion law,
according to region, as of 1997:
| Abortion restrictiveness | The Americas and the Caribbean | Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa | East and South Asia and the Pacific | Europe | Sub-Saharan Africa | |
| To save the woman's life | Brazil-R Chile-ND Colombia Dominican Republic El Salvador-ND Guatemala Haiti Honduras Mexico-R Nicaragua-SA/PA Panama-PA/R/F Paraguay Venezuela | Afghanistan Egypt-SA Iran Lebanon Libya-PA Oman Syria-SA/PA United Arab Emirates-SA/PA Yemen | Bangladesh Indonesia Laos Myanmar Nepal Papua New Guinea Philippines Sri Lanka | Ireland | Angola Benin Central African Rep. Chad Congo (Brazzaville) Cote d'Ivoire Dem. Rep. of Congo-F Gabon Guinea-Bissau-SA/PA Kenya Lesotho | Madagascar Mali Mauritania Mauritius Niger Nigeria Senegal Somalia Sudan-R Tanzania Togo Uganda |
| Physical health | Argentina-R (limited) Bolivia-R/I Costa Rica Ecuador-R/I (limited) Peru Uruguay-R | Kuwait-SA/PA/F Morocco-SA Saudi Arabia-SA/PA | Pakistan Rep. of Korea-SA/R/I/F Thailand-R | Poland-R/I/F | Burkina Faso-R Burundi Cameroon-R Eritrea Ethiopia Guinea | Malawi-SA Mozambique Rwanda Zimbabwe-R/I/F |
| Mental health | Jamaica-PA Trinidad & Tobago | Algeria Iraq-SA/F/R/I Israel-F/R/I Jordan | Australia Hong Kong-F/R/I Malaysia New Zealand-F/I | Northern Ireland Portugal-PA/F/R Spain-F/R Switzerland | Botswana-F/R/I Gambia Ghana-F/R/I | Liberia-F/R/I Namibia-F/R/I Sierra Leone |
| Socioeconomic grounds | India-PA/R/F Japan-SA Taiwan-SA/PA/I/F | Finland-R/F Great Britain-F | Zambia | |||
| Without restriction as to reason | Canada-L Cuba*-PA United States-PV Puerto Rico-PV | Armenia* Azerbaijan* Georgia* Kazakstan* Kyrgyz Rep.* Tajikistan* Tunisia* Turkey*-SA/P Turkmenistan* Uzbekistan* | Cambodia†-PA China-PA/L Mongolia* N. Korea-L Singapore Vietnam-L | Albania* Austria† Belarus* Belgium† Bosnia-Herzegovina*-PA Bulgaria* Croatia*-PA Czech Rep.*-PA Denmark*-PA Estonia* France*-PA Germany† Greece*-PA Hungary† Italy-PA Latvia* Lithuania* Macedonia*-PA Moldova* Netherlands-PV Norway*-PA Romania† Russian Fed.* Slovak Rep.*-PA Slovenia*-PA Sweden** Ukraine* Yugoslavia*-PA | South Africa* | |
| *Gestational limit of 12 weeks. ?Gestational limit of 14 weeks. Gestational limit of 24 weeks. Gestational limit of 90 days. **Gestational limit of 18 weeks. Notes: For gestational limits, duration of pregnancy is calculated from the last menstrual period, which is generally considered to occur two weeks prior to conception. Thus, statutory gestational limits calculated from the date of conception have been extended by two weeks. ND=Existence of defense of necessity is highly doubtful. SA=Spousal authorization required. PA=Parental authorization required. R=Abortion allowed in cases of rape. I=Abortion allowed in cases of incest. F=Abortion allowed in case of fetal impairment. L=Law does not indicate gestational limit. PV=Law does not limit previability abortions. | ||||||