The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says nearly 13,000 fully developed babies who could survive outside the womb are aborted annually.

And – contrary to the false claims made by Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during Wednesday evening’s debate – few, if any, of those abortions occurred because of the “life and health of the mother” or “something terrible” being discovered about the pregnancy.

In late 2011, the CDC published a report that observed 1.3 percent of abortions were performed at 21 weeks gestation and later.

“With nearly one million abortions annually in the U.S., abortionists are killing close to 13,000 children every year who are often fully developed and can survive outside the womb,” Lila Rose, president of Live Action, notes. “While the abortion industry claims that late-term abortions are an insignificant number of abortions and they’re only done because of a disability the baby has or to protect the life of the mother, the evidence says just the opposite.”

Research published by the Guttmacher Institute also finds that most late-term abortions were not done for medical reasons – as the abortion lobby often states. Fetal abnormalities “make up a small minority” of late-term abortions, and those for saving the life of the mother are even less.

According to the study:

Most women seeking later abortion fit at least one of five profiles: They were raising children alone, were depressed or using illicit substances, were in conflict with a male partner or experiencing domestic violence, had trouble deciding and then had access problems, or were young and nulliparous [never given birth].

“The abortion industry denies the science of fetal development and continues to advocate for aborting fully developed, viable children who can feel the pain of the abortionist’s needle that’s used to kill them,” Rose asserts.

In March, Clinton said she favors a “late-pregnancy regulation” with “exceptions for the life and health of the mother,” a statement Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser says is “a loophole so big as to make the underlying restriction meaningless.”

Dannenfelser explained at National Review:

It applies to anyone who claims to feel “mental distress” at the thought of having a baby. And it’s hard to take seriously the idea that a woman who stood by as her husband vetoed a law to prohibit the gruesome practice of partial-birth abortion now opposes the very abortions the technique was designed to administer.

Nevertheless, Clinton received some criticism from the abortion lobby – which is helping fund her campaign – for daring to even mention any type of restriction or “regulation” on abortion.

Planned Parenthood and its political allies claim abortion is a woman’s right up until the baby’s due date, and they consistently fight state and federal restrictions on late-term abortions. Although some states have restricted late-term abortions, Live Action observes all states allow abortion into the ninth month for certain exceptions, and eight states allow abortion until birth for any reason (Colorado, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington State).

A recent Marist College Institute for Public Opinion poll finds four-fifths of Americans favor some restrictions on abortion — including limiting the procedure after the first three months — and a continued ban on public funding of abortion.

In the survey of 1,700 Americans, even 66 percent of respondents who identify themselves as pro-choice say, “Abortion should be allowed, at most, in the first trimester, in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother, or never permitted.”

Update:

The Guttmacher Institute is reporting that the states that allow abortion until birth for any reason are now Alaska, Colorado, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont. Washington, D.C. allows abortion up until birth for any reason as well.