A Look at Late-Term Abortion Restrictions, State by State

nationaljournal.com ^ | Libby Isenstein

[Morgana]

A controversial abortion bill that was headed for a House vote Thursday was dropped Wednesday night, following pushback from several moderate GOP lawmakers who worried that the measure might alienate millennials and female voters. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would have nationally prohibited abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and was based on the medically disputed idea that a fetus can feel pain at this point in gestation.

Abortion-rights advocates argued that the proposed bill would have violated the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which holds that women have a constitutional right to abortion up until viability, or the point at which the fetus is capable of surviving outside the womb—typically around the 22nd to 24th week.

Ten states have already enacted so-called fetal pain abortion laws similar to the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, restricting abortion at 18 or 20 weeks. Here’s a breakdown of the restrictions for late-term abortion in each state, and a look at how the proposed federal bill stacks up against state laws that are already in place.