A diary by TDDVandy argues that we should stop talking about the 20 week ban in abortion bills like the one in Texas, and instead focus on clinic closures. I agree that clinic closures will affect a lot more women. But I also think we can talk to people (perhaps ourselves) who feel that the 20 week ban is reasonable. Follow below the squiggle for some nuance on the subject.
Even people who think that women with unplanned pregnancies are irresponsible sluts can generally identify with terminations for fetal indications. The proposed Texas law would say that abortion is allowed only for fetal problems incompatible with life. But even republicans (maybe especially republicans) can see that a baby with health problems might be unacceptable to themselves or their family members, even if the pregnancy does not pass the "severe fetal abnormality" test. Even if they think poor women should be forced to raise children they cannot afford, they do not want their daughters to be forced to raise children with birth defects that might not qualify as "severe". How do you even define that, any way?
A screening ultrasound is frequently done at 18-20 weeks as part of routine prenatal care that insured women with wanted pregnancies receive. Earlier than that, it is harder to pick up problems. Horrific deformities and other fetal problems, while rare, tend to be diagnosed at 18-20 weeks. Women who have something awful discovered on a routine sono in their OB's office are typically referred for more sophisticated imaging, evaluation by a perinatologist, etc. There is also the pure shock of the news, and time needed to make a decision. Then comes working out the logistics. The clock is running during all of that. Even if screening ultrasounds all get moved to 18 weeks, it may be hard to mobilize to terminate before the 20 week line.
Another fairly sympathetic group getting late term abortions is young girls who did not realize they were pregnant. The younger the girl, the less likely she is to realize or admit that she is pregnant (and the more likely it is that incest is involved). 18-20 weeks is when family members or teachers tend to notice.
Of course, there are also the women who knew earlier that they were pregnant and simply did not get their act together earlier. It is hard to make those women sympathetic to people who like to blame the victim for their plight. They are usually poor, live on the margins, and had to scramble to get the money together as the weeks went on and the price went up. We are likely to see more women in this group as early abortion gets harder to obtain. Of course, the best way to reduce the number of cases like this would be to lower the barriers to early abortions. You could make that argument to a half-way reasonable person on fairness grounds. But of course, the people who back these bills most strongly are not reasonable about that sort of thing.