Trump made false claims about ‘late-term abortion’ during the debate, experts say

Former President Donald Trump made false claims about late-in-pregnancy abortions during Thursday’s debate with President Joe Biden, experts say.

Abortion is poised to be one of the biggest topics that will define this year’s presidential election.

On Thursday, Trump repeated claims he made in 2016 regarding late-in-pregnancy abortions during a debate against then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

He claimed: “They will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month and even after birth.”

By definition, late-in-pregnancy abortions take place at or after 21 weeks of pregnancy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 1% of all abortions occur at this stage of pregnancy. More than 80% occur at or before nine weeks of pregnancy, and just 6% occur between 14 and 20 weeks of pregnancy, which is during the second trimester. Abortion does not involve ending the life of a born baby.

Any claim stating that it is is incorrect, Dr. Dara Kass, an emergency medicine physician in New York and a former regional director at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told NBC News.

“What he is talking about is murder, and it doesn’t happen in relation to abortion,” she said.

Trump also specifically targeted former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, stating, “He’s willing to, as we say, rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby.”

In a 2019 interview, Northam was pressed on proposed state legislation that would have eliminated a restriction that required abortions in the second or third trimester to be performed in a hospital. It also would have eliminated a requirement that three physicians agree that a late-in-pregnancy abortion is medically necessary.

Northam