“The size of the conceptus at this stage in pregnancy [Post 24 weeks gestation] makes D&E technically problematic… Delivery of a fetus after 24 weeks gestation will frequently result in an infant capable of survival…”
Joe Leigh Simpson, M.D. and Sherman Elias, M.D. Essentials of Prenatal Diagnosis (Churchill Livingstone, 1993) 327
In a D&E abortion, the baby is dismembered by forceps. Read more about this type of abortion here.
The baby below was aborted intact at 24 weeks. He or she was most likely injected with poison before being delivered, This method was used because dismemberment with forceps would have been difficult.
Below; diagram of D&E abortion
