This week during a presidential debate, former President Donald Trump falsely claimed that Democrats want to “execute” babies, suggesting that the Democratic party supports abortions "after birth.”

The lie came up during the first confrontation between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris when asked about abortion. As ABC News anchor Linsey Davis mentioned during her real-time fact check, there is no state where it is legal to kill a baby after birth. A report from KFF notes that abortions “after birth” are illegal in every state. Trump's false statements are in line with his previous comments about "late-term abortions," which isn't a technical medical term, that he also brought up in the debate with President Joe Biden.

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As Salon has recently reported, abortion bans are pushing people to terminate later in pregnancy. It’s estimated that less than 1% of abortions in the U.S. occur after 21 weeks of gestation. The reasons pregnant people might seek abortion care after 21 weeks is generally due to severe medical complications — such as the fetus having a fatal anomaly. In fact, when Trump is suggesting that Democrats want to “execute” babies after birth, he is referring to perinatal palliative care.

Trump has touted the false claim since 2019, when he mentioned it in his State of the Union address. It stems........

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