Late Term Abortions on the Rise in France

It is often stated that the main reason women have an abortion is economic. If we only raised the minimum wage, spent more on social programs and got people out of poverty there wouldn't be any abortions. As a member of the board on an inner-city crisis pregnancy center I know firsthand that poverty is only one of a number of reasons that lead women to consider aborting their child. More often it is a feeling of being overwhelmed, of lacking a positive support structure of family or friends, of not knowing there are other options available to them.

In further proof that poverty is not at the root of abortions comes this story from France. In a country that is far more socialist than the U.S. although no doubt there are many in this country who would like to see us become just like them.

In France, abortion is illegal after the 12th week of pregnancy, but a woman can
still procure one until the 32nd week if there is evidence of some kind of abnormality. Babies with Down’s syndrome, deformity or fetal abnormalities were victim to 76% of post-twelfth week abortions. According to l'Agence de la biomedicine, only 2.7% of the abortions were performed in an effort to preserve the health of the mother.

In another story we read that in the U.S. over 80% of pregnancies involving a child with Down Syndrome end in abortion. In the U.K in 2006 official figures estimate as many as 94% of women with babies with Down Syndrome had an abortion.

While these numbers are large for a particular cause they do not necessarily indicate a majority in the overall cases for abortion. Yet they are still cause for alarm that so many people would choose abortion in these cases.