What’s needed in abortion law: a bimester framework

Honest people from both and left with a knowledge of medical science know that the trimester framework underlying abortion law in America is, no pun intended on this subject, unviable.

What is viable?

A bimester, or semester, framework. Reasonable odds of fetal survivability of an early birth only pick up at around 20 weeks. And, reasonable social conservatives who know the basics of medical technology, especially in neonatology, will honestly admit that this is one area where we won’t see any major advances at any time soon.

So, if I were president, whether through the move of an amicus brief in an abortion case, even if it led to a new round of law by judicial fiat, or through Congressional legislation, I would move us to a bimester system.

In the first bimester, I would ban 24-hour waiting periods between doctor’s visits, require Medicaid funding be made available to poor women, and allow only parental notification, not parental consent. States would be given very little leeway to further constrict abortion rights, which would largely be nationalized.

In the second bimester, things would be far different. Other than requiring states to allow abortion when maternal life or health were at stake, or incest was the cause of pregnancy (with reporting of the perpetrator, of course), states could restrict abortion, or even ban it outright, with the exceptions just listed, of course.

No, I would not have a second bimester exception for rape required. Yes, women may wait a while to report a rape, but waiting weeks is one thing and waiting five months would be another.