Vis a vis Scott's excellent post on Obama's silly pander about "mental distress" and "partial birth" abortion, it's worth reminding ourselves exactly how many late term abortions are performed in America each year. Here are the facts: Ninety percent of abortions are performed within the first 16 weeks of pregnancy through a procedure called aspiration, in which a surgical vacuum is used to empty out a woman's uterus. The second most common abortion procedure is dilation and evacuation, which accounts for almost the entirety of the remaining 10 percent of abortions. D&E takes place after 16 weeks of pregnancy, often when a woman's health or life is at risk. In that procedure, the aspiration process is sometimes preceded by an injection into the abdomen that ensures fetal demise. Intact dilation and extraction, aka D&X or -- to the antis -- "partial birth abortion," accounts for less than two tenths of one percent of all abortions performed in the United States each year, and is usually reserved for instances in which the pregnant woman is facing severe health risks or when expectant parents learn their fetus will not be viable outside of the womb. --Dana Goldstein
