Abortion policy in the U.S. often focuses on fetal viability and fails to address the concerns of actual pregnant people. John Fedele/Tetra Images via GettyImages
During the 2024 presidential campaign, politicians and their surrogates repeatedly raised concerns about abortion later in pregnancy. The topic grabbed media attention and continues to inspire strong emotions, but most of the discussions include numerous misunderstandings.
These debates tend to focus almost exclusively on the status of a presumed healthy fetus: Does it have a heartbeat? Can it feel pain? Can it survive outside of the pregnant person’s body? Laws in the U.S. routinely use these fetal development markers to restrict abortion rights.
The problem with this framing, however, is that the preoccupation with these fetal development markers originated in law and politics, not in science or medicine. And, most importantly, not from the lives, needs and experiences of pregnant people.
We are medical sociologists…
Source link : https://usa365.info/how-abortion-laws-focusing-on-fetal-viability-miss-the-mark-on-womens-experiences/
Author : USA365
Publish date : 2025-05-23 15:40:00
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