Citing medical research as her reason to file Senate Bill 3, Pain-Capable/Dismemberment Legislation, Sen. Michele Brooks, an Erie Republican, said she supports reducing the maximum gestational age for legal abortions.
Abortions are legal in Pennsylvania at 24 weeks, however, Brooks said medical advancements prove that a ban of when abortions can be performed should be at 20 weeks. The current Abortion Control Act took effect in 1994, she wrote to all Senate lawmakers. And, as the General Assembly reviews Brooks findings, and possibly updates the law, there has not been a public hearing scheduled to elicit public input.
Brooks wrote, “As in current law, this limitation would not apply in situations where an abortion is necessary to prevent the death or impairment of a major bodily function of a woman. In addition, this legislation would prohibit the practice of tearing a fetus apart by its limbs, also called dismemberment abortion.”
The research Brooks points to “indicates that an unborn child at 20 weeks or less of gestational development likely has a zero percent chance of survival.”
“According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, overall survival rates for premature babies between 22 and 24 weeks increased 79 percent in 2012, up from 70 percent in 1993,” she wrote. “Additionally, about 1/3 of premature babies, born at 23 weeks, will survive.”
Her research finds:
- a woman is 35 times more likely to die at 20 weeks and 91 times more likely after 21 weeks, than if the procedure was performed in the first trimester
- the risk of death increases exponentially by 38 percent for each additional week of gestation
- by 20 weeks, babies have developed all of the physical structures necessary to experience pain
- studies have shown that they do react to painful stimuli; during fetal surgery, an unborn baby who is administered anesthesia has a decrease in stress hormones compared to when painful stimuli is applied without anesthesia
Should PA Senators advance stricter abortion legislation without seeking public input?
