A significant number of women need access to abortion care after the first trimester (after 12 weeks of pregnancy) for many different reasons. While later abortions are a small percentage of all abortions performed in the U.S., over 35,000 women each year have abortions at 16-20 weeks gestation, and over 11,000 women need abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

There are no abortion services at all in 87% of U.S. counties, and the number of facilities offering later abortions is even more limited. According to the 2005 survey of abortion providers conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, the majority of abortions between 17 and 24 weeks are performed in a few freestanding abortion clinics.