Explaining the difference between 15 and 24 weeks

When Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham proposed a federal bill that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks, political reporters could see how the bill altered the conversation in many midterm Congressional races. Within a day, NPR did a nuanced story on those political implications.

For many people who've been pregnant, the difference between accessing an abortion at 15 weeks and one up to 24 weeks, which was federally protected until last summer when the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, is obvious. Medical tests that detect serious problems with a fetus often cannot be confirmed until closer to 20 weeks. When this detail is left out of stories, it feels like a glaring omission to people who are upset at the idea of requiring expectant parents to continue a pregnancy that they already know will end in suffering.

One such listener wrote us an impassioned letter asking for that detail to be included in stories about abortion bans after 15 weeks.

Is that reasonable? We talked to an NPR journalist