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Old 31st August 2011, 08:53 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Olympia, Washington
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I don't have a problem with late-term abortions costing more, because in general, medical services are already priced by time and complexity. (Look up RVU, or Relative Value Unit, if you're terribly curious.) I do object to jiggering with the price structure, raising the price for late-term as a means of discouraging them. Besides, what do you think a doctor is going to do? Perform a simple procedure at 20 weeks for $Y, or put off the procedure until 24 weeks and get $ZZ? By raising the price [that is, raising the fee and thus the reimbursement rate] of late-term abortions you could end up encouraging the very thing you're trying to prevent.

All things being equal, a late-term abortion costs more simply because the pregnant woman has had more prenatal care over those six months than a woman who aborts after only 10 weeks. If cost were the limiting factor, we've already crossed that bridge by the time the woman realizes there are pregnancy complications such as anencephaly.
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