New Jersey Third Trimester Abortion Clinic Sparks Statewide Debate

New Jersey could be the site of an abortion clinic specializing in third trimester abortions. The move has sparked concern among many such of such late term procedures done up to a few weeks before birth. Entities Daniel Monahan spoke with the attorney and pregnancy care CEO about this case. Founded by Kristen Brandy and Katherine Obando, Luminosa Wellness Collective hopes to bring third trimester abortions to Hudson County, New Jersey, starting in 2026. They say the facility will be rooted in what they call reproductive justice and also provide cross- sex procedures for transidentifying people. A 2023 Gallup poll showed that 70% of people oppose abortion being legal in the third trimester. 55% oppose it in the second trimester. Boouan Lee Gilmore of Patient Forward said the reasons for such late term abortions can include losing a job, breaking up with a partner, or health problems with the fetus or parent. The third trimester begins at 27 weeks. >> At 27 weeks, her eyes are responding to light. She can recognize her parents' voices and will even recognize lullabibis and stories >> and continues up until birth. Olivia has gone on an amazing journey during these last nine months. She will soon signal to her mother that it is time for delivery. Third trimester abortions are surgical techniques that involve crushing, dismemberment, and removal of a baby from a woman's uterus. After the DOS decision in 2022, um the governor signed into law a law in New Jersey that really leaves it quite open for these late term abortions. >> Supreme Court litigation chief Erin Mercino says the Safe Haven Act in New Jersey allows women in a tough situation to drop off a baby at certain public locations >> where women are able to take babies into an emergency room. no questions asked. Leave at a fire station, police station um after having the baby and the baby would then be put up for adoption. And again, no questions asked. >> Merc herself, a mother of five, says no woman has abortion as the only option. There's choosing life. There's choosing adoption. Um there's choosing to raise a child yourself. There's hope. There's clinics out there. There's so many really selfless people wanting to help, wanting to give their hand and and pick women up in these difficult circumstances and walk with them. No one has to be alone. There's love and hope. Brandy Swendell is the founder and CEO of Stanton Healthcare International, whose clinics provide lifeaffirming medical care and wellness support to those facing unexpected pregnancies. >> We also do wellwoman care, wellwoman exams, STD testing and treatment, prenatal and postnatal education and classes, wellness care, massage therapy. >> All services are free of charge. So, if a woman walks through our doors and she needs assistance with housing, uh we're going to be able to find her safe housing. If a woman walks through our doors uh and she needs uh help uh getting her GED, we're going to help her with that. If she needs help, uh finding a job, maybe even working on putting together a resume, all those types of things, we can help her with. Swindell says a large number of women are forced or pressured into an unwanted abortion, which she calls abortion abuse. >> So, women are being pressured by uh a boyfriend, a husband, the father of the baby, parents, an employer, someone they trust, usually is what women say, into getting an abortion that they really don't want to have. >> Jamie says she was pressured by a partner who told her she couldn't manage a baby. She went to Planned Parenthood after taking the abortion pill. She knew she'd made a terrible mistake. >> I felt this life just escaping me. Like I felt it so deeply and I was like, I have to do something about it. Please, anybody, my family, people who love me, God, somebody like please get me through this. Please give me another chance to make this right. Jamie, desperate, called her sister, who told her about Stanton Healthcare, where they do abortion pill reversal. >> I filled out some paperwork and they're like, "Let's go check on that baby." And when I saw his heart still beating for the first time and he was okay. The abortion pill reversal process involves an influx of natural progesterone after the first pill of a chemical abortion mythristone is taken. NTD reached out to Luminoso's Wellness Collective for comment, but they didn't respond. Daniel Monahan, NTD News.