The United States and Canada are among a handful of nations, two of which are the biggest human rights abusers in the world, that allow abortions on babies after 20 weeks. Every other nation on the planet either bans abortions after that time, which is just before viability, or limits them.
A new report authored by Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) associate scholar Angelina Baglini and co-released today by CLI and Life Canada finds that the United States and Canada join China, North Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, and Netherlands in allowing abortion beyond 20 weeks, more than halfway through pregnancy and the point at which research shows the unborn child feels pain.
“Our fresh review of international statutes and case law was undertaken with the knowledge that U.S. policies, set by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton in 1973, are among the world’s most permissive,” said Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, which commissioned the report.
He told LifeNews: “Our goal was to establish what a 20-week-limit would mean in the global context, and the news is that our nation and our northern neighbor, Canada, would still be among the top 4% in permissive law and practice if we adopted such a limit. Laws restricting abortion on demand after 20 weeks would move the bulk of North America away from the fringe and closer to the international mainstream.”
“There is a clear need to put into place laws that protect human life, and the dignity of life, in a nation where no such laws exist,” said Natalie Sonnen, Executive Director of LifeCanada.
She told LifeNews: “The definition of human life in the Canadian Criminal code, which states that a child becomes a human being when it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother, is just one example of how Canada completely ignores pre-natal human life, and runs contrary to science, logic and international humanitarian standards. This study demonstrates how radical the US and particularly Canada are in regards to international norms for abortion.”
They said last year national polling by Quinnipiac, National Journal, Huffington Post, NBC/Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post/ABC News all found that a plurality or majority of Americans support limiting abortion after 20 weeks gestation and that women support the measure in higher proportions than men.
