As abortion looms as a major issue in November’s US mid-term elections, it’s been revealed that each year around 55,000 terminations take place at 15-weeks gestation or later.
That’s roughly one in 20 of all recorded American abortions, estimated to be currently averaging just under one million per year.
The data was compiled by the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute.
It found the number of late-term procedures in pro-abortion states was around 7% of all terminations.
Veteran Republican Senator Lindsey Graham recently introduced a bill in the US Senate proposing a nationwide ban on abortions after 15-weeks of pregnancy.
He explained that’s when babies in the womb start feeling pain.
Christian Headlines reports it signifies a weakening of the conservative party’s previously strong hardline stance against nearly all abortions.
The bill is unlikely to be debated until after the mid-terms when the Republicans hope to resume control of the House of Representatives, although they could struggle to win a Senate majority.
The party is hoping the bill will help define the Republicans as taking a more moderate approach to abortion which is shaping as a major election factor after the economy.
Latest polls show around two thirds of voters saying they won’t support candidates who want to outlaw most abortions.
