Karman also developed the "super coil" abortion technique, which he believed would enable lay practitioners to perform second-trimester abortions with little training or equipment.

As vaguely written, the bill is unconstitutional; it outlaws second-trimester abortions protected by Roe v. Wade.

In 2002, there were an estimated 142,000 second-trimester abortions in the United States.

The subpoenas covered all second-trimester abortions involving medical complications or chemical injections into the womb.

Delays caused by the judicial-bypass process in Minnesota were sometimes weeks long, causing the percentage of minors obtaining second-trimester abortions to increase by 26 percent.

Legislators who supported the "partial birth" bill claimed it would have no effect on these second-trimester abortions.

The recession has intensified the situation: several abortion clinics report performing more second-trimester abortions, as women take longer to gather the money to pay for the procedure.

Abortion rights advocates say such laws could have profoundly chilling effects on many doctors' willingness to perform second-trimester abortions.

She said that she preferred doing second-trimester abortions "because the patient is asleep."

She went on to say that, truth be told, she preferred doing second-trimester abortions - a more difficult surgery - to the simple first-trimester abortions.