America's Abortion Shame

A recent study is declaring U.S. abortion law 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 last week, the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute found that the U.S. is one of only eight countries in the United Nations that allows abortion on demand without any gestational limits, and one of only 15 countries in the U.N. to allow abortion on demand past 15 weeks of pregnancy. The U.N. has 193 member states.

Other countries that place no gestational limit on elective abortions include Australia, Canada, China, Guinea-Bissau, Mexico, South Korea, and Vietnam. Only 70 U.N. member states allow abortion on demand, meaning abortions “without restriction as to reason,” which the report also refers to as elective abortions. The authors note, “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. is not among them, leading the Charlotte Lozier Institute to declare that current U.S. “abortion law is far more permissive than the vast majority of the world.”

Of the 70 U.N. member states that do allow abortion on demand, seven countries have pro-life protections before the 12th week of pregnancy, 38 countries have protections starting at the 12th week of pregnancy, 10 countries have protections between the 12th and 15th week of pregnancy, and only 15 allow abortion on demand beyond the 15th week of pregnancy, including the U.S.

Additionally, 46 out of 50 European countries in the U.N. have pro-life protections past the 15th week of pregnancy. The report notes, “The United States has a far more extreme abortion policy than those found in Europe.” Three countries in Europe (Andorra, Malta, and Vatican City) protect all unborn children outright, three others (Liechtenstein, Monaco, and Poland) have protections with exceptions to preserve the life or health of the mother, and the rest have various gestational limits placed on abortion. The report chides, “0 European countries permit abortion on demand without gestational limits, as the United States does.”