Study Highlights US Abortion Laws as More Permissive Than Most

A latest examine is declaring U.S. abortion regulation to be “far more permissive than the vast majority of the world.”

In its 2024 report on “Gestational Limits on Abortion in the United States Compared to International Norms,” published final week, the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute discovered that the U.S. is considered one of solely eight international locations within the United Nations that permits abortion on demand with none gestational limits, and considered one of solely 15 international locations within the U.N. to permit abortion on demand previous 15 weeks of being pregnant. (The U.N. has 193 member states.)

The different international locations that place no gestational restrict on elective abortions embrace Australia, Canada, China, Guinea-Bissau, Mexico, South Korea, and Vietnam. Only 70 U.N. member states permit abortion on demand, that means abortions “without restriction as to reason,” which the report additionally refers to as elective abortions.

The authors word, “The remaining 123 countries demonstrate a clear public policy preference for protecting human life over abortion by permitting abortion only under specified circumstances.” The U.S. will not be amongst them, main the Charlotte Lozier Institute to declare that present U.S. “abortion law is far more permissive than the vast majority of the world.”

Of the 70 U.N. member states that do permit abortion on demand, seven international locations have pro-life protections earlier than the twelfth week of being pregnant, 38 international locations have protections beginning on the twelfth week of being pregnant, 10 international locations have protections between the twelfth and fifteenth week of being pregnant, and solely 15 permit abortion on demand past the fifteenth week of being pregnant, together with the U.S.

Additionally, 46 out of fifty European international locations within the U.N. have pro-life protections previous the fifteenth week of being pregnant. The report notes, “The United States has a far more extreme abortion policy than those found in Europe.” Three international locations in Europe (Andorra, Malta, and Vatican City) shield all unborn youngsters outright, three others (Liechtenstein, Monaco, and Poland) have protections with exceptions to protect the life or well being of the mom, and the remainder have varied gestational limits positioned on abortion.

The report chides: “0 European countries permit abortion on demand without gestational limits, as the United States does.” Even in France, which grew to become the primary nation earlier this yr to enshrine a “right” to abortion in its structure, abortion is restricted to the primary 16 weeks of being pregnant.

The report notes that whereas the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe v. Wade did away with federal license for the slaughter of the unborn, there may be not presently any federal pro-life regulation defending infants from abortion on demand.

“Consequently,” the report states, “29 states permit elective abortion past 15 weeks of gestation, and in at least 19 states, abortion-drug prescribers are shielded from legal repercussions if they ship abortion pills into those states that restrict abortion from conception and/or that have health and safety requirements that apply to abortion-inducing drugs.”

The report additional notes that its “findings suggest that recent proposals in the United States to restrict abortion on demand past 15 weeks, which should serve as a minimum gestational limit, at the federal level would move the United States away from the fringe, ultra-permissive end of the spectrum.”

“Permitting abortion on demand past 15 weeks places the United States among the top 8% most permissive countries in the world (15 out of 193) based on gestational limits on abortion,” the report concludes. “The United States should seek to move away from the ultra-permissive fringe policies of the 14 other countries that permit abortion past 15 weeks and aim to protect life at even earlier gestational limits, as 178 other U.N. member countries do—ranging from complete protection of the unborn to protecting the unborn after 15 weeks of gestation.”

In feedback to The Washington Stand, Mary Szoch, the Family Research Council’s director of the Center for Human Dignity, agreed with the Charlotte Lozier Institute’s findings. “The United States is the land of the free, where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are considered inalienable rights given to each human being by our Creator, but at the same time, some states in our country allows unborn babies to be killed until the moment of birth,” Szoch stated, including:

Who lives and who might be legally killed by an abortionist shouldn’t rely upon which state an individual was born in. The United States ought to champion the fitting to life for ALL folks, no matter age, well being, socioeconomic standing, race, or some other qualifier.

The Charlotte Lozier Institute published its first report on “Gestational Limits on Abortion in the United States Compared to International Norms” in 2014. At that point, the U.S. was considered one of seven international locations that allowed elective abortions previous the twentieth week of being pregnant, and considered one of solely 59 international locations that allowed elective abortions in any respect. Even amongst these 59, greater than three quarters have pro-life protections previous the twelfth week of being pregnant.

The newest report comes as Republican politicians and candidates waver on the pro-life situation, regardless of calls from conservative leaders to stand firm in protection of the unborn. Democrats, in the meantime, have made abortion the chief focus of their 2024 campaigns, usually accusing pro-life Republicans of “extremism” on the difficulty.

Originally printed at WashingtonStand.com