Leading up to a U.S. Supreme Court case being heard that considers the constitutionality of pre-viability prohibitions on abortions, a new report released Tuesday found that a vast majority of European nations limit elective abortions even earlier than Mississippi’s 15-weeks limit.
The study was an analysis of 50 European nations, independent states, and semi-autonomous regions that have a population of more than 1 million. It found that 47 of 50 areas, or 94 percent, limit elective abortion to 15 weeks gestation or earlier.
The Charlotte Lozier Institute released their report, “Mississippi’s 15-Week Gestational Limit on Abortion is Mainstream Compared to European Laws,” prior to the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments this fall for the contentious case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The case is a challenge to Mississippi’s 2018 law limiting abortions after 15 weeks.
“Mississippi’s law brings the United States a small step closer both to European and global norms,” said attorney Angelina B. Nguyen, the author of the report and a scholar at the institute. “No European nation allows elective abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, as is effectively permitted in several U.S. states, and America is one of only a small handful of nations, along with China and North Korea, to permit any sort of late-term elective abortion.”
The institute found that a majority of nations, 27, limit elective abortions to 12 weeks gestation. Five countries limit elective abortions at 14 weeks gestation and a total of eight countries “do not allow elective abortion, though some permit abortion for specific medical or socioeconomic reasons,” according to a press release put out by the group.
Mississippi passed the Gestational Age Act overwhelmingly and on a bipartisan basis in 2018. However, it was invalidated in Dobbs through the lower courts and now heads to the Supreme Court.
Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Mike Lee of Utah put forth an amicus brief in support of the Dobbs petitioners Monday, demanding the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992).
Source: The Federalist
