Tim Knopp’s Sunday column quotes a poll by DHM Research: “nearly 6 in 10 (Oregonians) would support making abortion illegal in the third trimester except in cases to save the life of the mother.”

I doubt that the poll included an option for if the baby has a condition that will cause immediate or early death. This is the cause of essentially all non-life-saving late abortions. In those cases, a third trimester “abortion” is akin to turning off life support for a child with no meaningful chance of life. We grant parents the right to make such decisions for children already born. It is only reasonable that they have the same rights in those last weeks or months of the pregnancy.

We do not need a law limiting third-trimester abortions because they aren’t happening for any unjustified reason. Laws are very black and white; the biology of reproduction is a thousand shades of gray requiring many risk/benefit calculations when things don’t go as expected. Our hospital medical standards teams are completely competent to navigate these nuances.

I’m sure that Planned Parenthood recognizes that laws lack the needed flexibility to balance the varying needs of people involved in these difficult situations so advocates for these decisions to be left to our very capable system of medical care standards rather than try to create laws around all the possible situations.

No licensed medical provider is going to provide third-trimester abortions on some whim of the pregnant patient. If someone unlicensed does so, there are already laws against practicing medicine without a license.

A real-life example of this was my very much loved and wanted granddaughter who was found at the 20-week ultrasound to lack kidneys. Without kidneys, there is little amniotic fluid which is essential to lung development. This was a death sentence.

An abortion immediately after the confirmatory tests would not have qualified as “third trimester,” but my daughter and son-in-law wanted time to process some of the emotions and decide what was best for their family. They wanted time with Aila because this was all they would get save a few minutes after her birth. They wanted to feel her move and try to express their love for her.

As the weeks went by, the pain of carrying a pregnancy with little amniotic fluid increased for my daughter and presumably for Aila. These babies are born with facial changes, presumably from the pressure of the uterus altering their development. With no fluid, the risk of a cord accident causing fetal death increased.

They desperately wanted her born alive so they could hold her in her last moments. They asked to be induced at 33 weeks which was the time that felt right for their lives and the situation. The obstetric board had to agree to this. Induction in this situation is an abortion under the law.

Because third-trimester abortion is legal in Oregon, and the chance of Aila’s surviving did not increase by waiting, they were approved for induction. We all got a chance to say hello and goodbye to precious Aila.

My daughter’s family was given some slight sense of control in a situation that felt very out of control. They were able to schedule this at a time that has made it easier to take time off work every year to have a day of remembrance for Aila. This is the reality of third-trimester abortions.