User blog comment:Mrdaimion/Serious Sam Issue 1 - Abortion/@comment-1956487-20120205035913/@comment-1874924-20120206060619

Most abortions take place at 16 weeks or less (at which point the fetus is probably about the size of a golf ball) because later abortions use a different technique that requires an overnight stay by the patient, and most abortion providers don't have inpatient facilities. Abortions up to 16 weeks are normally done on an outpatient basis unless complications arise, at which point the patient is transferred to a fully equipped hospital.

The graphic images you sometimes see anti-abortion protesters displaying are invariably of much later-term fetuses than most abortion facilities are equipped to deal with.

The comments by Sprink and some other abortion opponents illustrate why the two sides will never be able to find common ground: they can't agree on the most fundamental point, which is when life begins. If you believe that life begins at conception, then the only humane conclusion is that abortion is intolerable except when the mother's life is at serious risk (on the premise that one death is better than two). If you believe that life properly begins at some later point, then you'll probably support legalized abortion up to that point.

Another point worth noting: In the days before the legalization of abortion, most illegal abortions were NOT performed in the proverbial back alleys. They were performed in hospitals by licensed physicians who chose to defy the law. Make of that what you will.