The Star Tribune claims, "Typically, later pregnancy terminations [after the first trimester] occur only after a tragic fetal diagnosis has been made or when the pregnancy has resulted from rape or incest." I decided to check the facts.
The main abortion method used after the first trimester of pregnancy is dilation and evacuation (D & E). A total of 753 D & E abortions were performed in Minnesota in 2009 (latest numbers available), according to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). A total of 1,398 abortions were performed at 13 weeks gestation or later -- after the first trimester.
Meanwhile, 75 women said their pregnancies were a result of rape or incest (less than one percent of total abortions). And 160 of the women having abortions cited fetal anomalies (about one percent of all abortions). Since women may give more than one reason for having an abortion (in the MDH report), this means that no more than 235 women had abortions "after a tragic fetal diagnosis has been made or when the pregnancy has resulted from rape or incest."
Many of those 235 abortions (especially the ones resulting from rape and incest) probably took place in the first trimester. But even if we assume that they all occurred in the second trimester, only 16.8 percent of second-trimester abortions would be due to fetal anomaly, rape or incest.
The most common reasons given for abortion are "does not want children at this time" (64 percent of Minnesota abortions) and "economic reasons" (31 percent).
