Claim that some states allow after-birth abortions is false

Former President Donald Trump was interviewed on July 31 at a conference for the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. 

During his appearance, journalist Kadia Goba of Semafor asked Trump about his vice presidential candidate JD Vance’s past comments on “childless women,” divorced people and abortion. Vance has previously said he would support a national abortion ban.

“Do you think the Republican party is getting a little bit too judgy about people’s lives? When you think about abortion, or when you think about what JD Vance is saying?” Goba asked. 

Trump replied, “I think that the Democrat Party is really the one that has the problem. I think they're radical on abortion because they're allowing abortion in the ninth month. They're allowing the death, they're allowing the death of a baby after the baby is born.” 

Several of the panel moderators interrupted the former president and said that wasn’t true. 

This isn’t the first time Trump has made this claim; he also made the assertion during previous presidential debates.  

THE QUESTION

Do any U.S. states allow after-birth abortions?

THE SOURCES

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data
• Sarah Prager, M.D., a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington
• KFF, a health policy organization

THE ANSWER

There are no U.S. states that allow after-birth abortions.

WHAT WE FOUND

No states in the U.S. allow after-birth abortions. Killing a child after birth for any reason is infanticide, which is illegal in all 50 states.

Experts also told the Associated Press that it is not physically possible to perform an abortion if a woman has already gone into labor.

“Patients who are laboring at term are never having an abortion,” Sarah Prager, M.D., a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington, told the AP. “They are having a delivery.”

Abortions later in pregnancy are incredibly rare. In 2021, approximately 93% of abortions in the U.S. occurred at or before 13 weeks’ gestation, while less than 1% occurred at 21 weeks or later, according to the latest available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). KFF, a health policy organization, says people may be able to get a third trimester abortions in rare instances, including “medical concerns such as fetal anomalies or maternal life endangerment, as well as barriers to care that cause delays in obtaining an abortion.”

Source of the misinformation

At NABJ, following his comments about Democrats allowing after-birth abortions and as panel moderators were refuting the claim, Trump says “based on the governor of Virginia, based on the governor of Virginia, they're allowing the death of the baby after it’s born.”

Trump was misinterpreting comments made by former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam during a radio show interview in 2019. At the time, there was legislation introduced in Virginia that would loosen restrictions on late-in-pregnancy abortions. 

During the interview, Northam, who is also a physician, was asked what could happen if a birthing person requested an abortion while in labor because the fetus was severely deformed or not viable.

“In this particular example…the infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable, the infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired. And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother,” Northam said. 

Following the interview, portions of Northam’s answer were shared on social media to make it seem like he was supporting after-birth abortions and was describing how they are performed. Since then, others, including Trump, have claimed some states allow infanticide due to lenient abortion laws.