Pro-life leader slams UK bill shielding women from charges for late-term abortions

EXCLUSIVE: The leader of an international pro-life group is criticizing a bill under consideration in the United Kingdom that would protect women from criminal liability for abortions up until birth.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Shawn Carney, CEO of 40 Days for Life, said British lawmakers were following efforts by U.S. Democrats to allow abortion in these cases, which he called “absolutely absurd.”

“They didn’t really push for it,” Carney said. “In general, Europe is much more conservative on abortion than the United States. Most European countries regulate abortion at 12 weeks. England has 16. In some cases, they do abortion late, up to 24 weeks. But now they want to have abortions during the 40 weeks. And this seems to come out of nowhere.”

Carney said he feared this bill, if passed, would “start an unfortunate trend across Europe.”

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A bill is being considered in the United Kingdom that would protect women from criminal liability for having an abortion to end their own pregnancy until after birth. (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The Crime and Policing Bill includes a provision, section 208, which would remove criminal penalties for women in England and Wales who terminate their own pregnancies at any time. The bill is now in its final stages in the House of Lords and is expected to be voted on as early as Wednesday. If the House of Lords approves the clause, the bill would be sent back to the House of Commons for any final amendments before receiving royal assent to become law.

Under this provision, a woman can no longer be investigated, arrested or prosecuted for terminating her own pregnancy at any gestation, even though the current standard legal threshold for most abortions in England and Wales is 24 weeks.

Although women who terminate their pregnancies would be exempt from criminal liability, doctors and others who assist in an abortion after 24 weeks without medical necessity can still face prosecution.

As lawmakers consider Section 208, several amendments have been proposed, including removing it entirely, amending it to exclude late-term abortions and adding a requirement for in-person doctor visits to end so-called “pill by mail” services.

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Under this provision, a woman can no longer be investigated, arrested or prosecuted for terminating her own pregnancy at any gestation. (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Carney argued that the latter two amendments should still be unacceptable, saying the clause appears to represent “a desire to kill.”

“I think it’s insane,” he said. “I know what they’re trying to do, but you have to fight the laws saying we don’t abort children at 40 weeks. The left built a whole movement on the ability to survive outside the womb with viability. Then as science and medicine advanced, viability changed because we could do a lot for unborn children. So they said at first it was 24 weeks, then 22 weeks. Some say it’s 20 weeks. Others say it’s always 22 weeks. “No one ever said it was 40 weeks. They all said, of course, you could survive outside the womb. It seems like it’s just a desire to kill, at 40 weeks. “

“I understand the idea of ​​trying to reach a legal compromise,” he continued. “But the trade-off would be that you lose your mind. You want to abort a child the day before it’s born. And that’s not medically necessary. The baby is completely viable…so that’s why I think you have to reject these bills.”

Carney also said that “people don’t want to celebrate abortion” and “certainly don’t want to brag about being able to have abortions up to 40 weeks,” adding that opponents of the British bill “lack common sense responses” to efforts to allow all abortion up to birth.

He added that while most people are not “freaks” seeking abortions at 40 weeks, removing women’s legal responsibility at that point could make abortion more socially acceptable.

“I think it takes a little bit of the stigma out of abortions at 8, 10, 12, 16 weeks, because typically what we’ve seen in the United States is when you have states that say, hey, you’re going to have an abortion during the 40 weeks, what they do is say, well, okay, I’m not that bad. My abortion isn’t that bad because it only happens at 10 weeks, he’s only 12 weeks, he’s only 16 weeks,” Carney said.

The bill is now in its final stages in the House of Lords and is expected to be voted on as early as Wednesday. (Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“It’s not that you’re going to see a lot of abortions at 40 weeks. It’s the mentality that abortion is not a problem. You can even do it the day before the birth, and so it’s more acceptable to most people,” he continued.

“People are not monsters,” he added. “The monsters write these bills, which are usually very liberal white people who say, you know what, we need to be able to have abortions the day before your birthday. And most people look around at a party and say this person is clinically insane.”

The left “just got married to it,” Carney said.

“They believe that unfettered abortion is necessary at all times to be a free and just society,” Carney said. “But no one really needs it medically.”