Study: American Abortion Laws Closer to North Korea Than Europe

U.S. joins North Korea, China, Vietnam in allowing abortion-on-demand

Patrick Hauf • July 27, 2021 4:00 pm

America’s abortion laws are closer to North Korea’s than they are to democratic countries’, a fact the Supreme Court should consider as it weighs the constitutionality of Mississippi’s abortion law, according to a new study.

Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy mirrors the laws in effect in 47 European countries, but the policy is at odds with Supreme Court precedent established by Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which hold that abortion bans cannot be instituted prior to fetal viability. The standard—loosely set at 24 weeks—has stood for five decades despite rapid advances in medicine. Mississippi’s challenge to the Court, according to American Principles Project president Terry Schilling, will usher the United States into the 21st century.

“Democrats and their left-wing media allies love to slander pro-life laws like Mississippi’s as ‘extreme,'” Schilling told the Washington Free Beacon. “So it may surprise some Americans to discover that throughout much of the world, including most of supposedly ‘progressive’ Europe, such restrictions on abortion are actually the norm. In fact, it’s the Roe v. Wade abortion standard that is truly extreme.”

The United States is one of eight nations worldwide that allows abortion past 20 weeks. The only other countries with such radical laws range from communist China, North Korea, and Vietnam to the far-left governments of Iceland, Canada, and the Netherlands.

More than half of European countries limit abortion to 12 weeks, according to a study from the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute. Five countries have a 14-week limit. Eight countries, including Great Britain, only allow abortion if there is a specific medical or socioeconomic reason. Only two European countries allow for abortion after 20 weeks. No European countries allow abortion in all nine months of pregnancy. Seven U.S. states have no timeline restrictions on abortion and others allow abortion up until birth in specific instances.

Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, said liberals often point to Europe as a leading democratic example on issues such as the death penalty and maternity leave but ignore its moderate approach to abortion.

“They’ve obscured the truth about European policy,” Donovan told the Free Beacon. “It’s a matter of education. This extremism is happening in dictatorships and here—not Europe.”

A record number of pro-life reforms have been passed in the United States in 2021, many of which have been struck down in lower courts because they restrict abortion prior to fetal viability.

The Supreme Court will hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization this fall to determine the constitutionality of the Mississippi law. Lawyers representing Mississippi filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. The argument centered around the fact that medical advances on human development in the womb were not available at the time of the 1973 Roe decision.

Donovan praised the Mississippi brief as “the most well-written document ever sent to the Supreme Court.” He said pro-lifers have reason to hope for a long-overdue ruling that chips away at Roe.

“The stars are aligned—the science is there,” Donovan told the Free Beacon.