It is important to be clear about late term abortion, that many non-medical people may not understand clearly.
As a fetus develops, it adds, cell by cell, increased size and differentiation and during that process, all growth except for the single sperm cell, comes from the metabolic effort of the mother. The fetus is not a separate entity as it is inextricably part of maternal physiology. The male has no claim to the pregnancy, or at least has no actual contribution to the growth of the fetus.
Eventually the fetus reaches the point that if could survive outside the body (usually around 26-28 weeks) with intensive neonatal support.
Nonetheless, even later in the pregnancy, the life of the mother is the paramount concern as a fundamental issue of law and morality there is the no legal basis to protect the fetus over the life or life decisions of the mother until separation at birth.
The later stage fetus may have some legal rights (such as inheritance) but they are secondary to the mother's right to "body integrity" (a fundamental legal concept that a person has ownership of their body and decisions about it). That is why we cannot lock up drug users, smokers, or alcoholics for "fetus abuse". The mother has the right to make decisions about her body and the growing fetus until the time of delivery. Now in the later stages of pregnancy, if the fetus is viable, there is some legal validity to restrict some of the options available to the mother-- doctors are not allowed without valid medical reasons terminate a late stage pregnancy. As I know there is no sanctions against a women if she takes actions alone to terminate a pregnancy at any stage on her own; the prohibitions are against the physician.
What might be reasons to justify the termination of a pregnancy late? Since the life of the mother is the more fundamental consideration, if the pregnancy jeopardizes the mother as by causing heart or lung failure or multiple organ failure through such problems as Eisenmengers, cardiomyopahy of pregnancy, toxemia or HELLP syndromes, then termination of pregnancy is justified to preserve the life of the mother. She is not obligated to die to deliver a baby. Typically this would be by induction of labor or c-section or in rare instances dilation and extraction if she is unable to tolerate induced labor or surgery. In some juriscidtions, often this decision is made by a group of doctors to verify the medical necessity. This is not a trivial decision and no state, to my knowledge, allows only the wishes of the mother to be sufficient reason for a late term abortion.
