FACT CHECK: Gavin Newsom spreads more mistruths about later abortions

Gavin Newsom and Ron DeSantis recently held a debate in which they discussed how they govern two of the most populous states in the country: California and Florida. Though DeSantis is known to be running for president, Newsom says he is not, though he is widely expected to run in 2028. One of the topics discussed in their debate was abortion, in which the ardently pro-abortion Newsom recycled old lies.

During the debate, Newsom refused to identify any protections he would be willing to give preborn children, and spoke specifically about late-term or late abortions. “On the issue of the extreme exception that you highlight as it relates to the issue of later term abortion, it’s almost always because of a fetal anomaly [or] the life of the mother,” he said. “And in those rare cases, I trust … the mother and her doctor to make that decision.”

This is a common argument made by abortion advocates. It’s also blatantly false. Late abortions are neither rare, nor committed solely (or even mostly) due to health reasons.

A 1988 Guttmacher study found that just two percent (2%) of women who had abortions did so because of a health problem with the baby. More than 20 years later, a 2013 study (also published by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute) said, “[D]ata suggest that most women seeking later terminations are not doing so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment” (emphasis added). Pro-abortion researcher Diana Greene Foster stated, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service, that abortions for fetal abnormalities “make up a small minority of later abortion.” And a 2010 paper from Julia Steinberg of the pro-abortion Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, said, “Research suggests that the overwhelming majority of women having later abortions do so for reasons other than fetal anomaly (Drey et al., 2006; Finer et al., 2005, 2006; Foster et al., 2008).”

In the case of a legitimate health emergency, an induced abortion — the intentional, targeted killing of a preborn child — is not medically necessary, and is not the typical standard of care.

A late abortion typically takes several days to complete, and in an emergency situation, time is valuable. More often, doctors perform an emergency induction or c-section, and while the child may not survive, he or she is also not intentionally killed during a violent, multi-day process while the abortionist rakes in tens of thousands of dollars. And it’s that exact financial incentive that likely encourages abortionists, and defenders like Gavin Newsom, to spread lies and mistruths in order to keep it legal.