Pilot program in Dutch hospitals will abort babies up to 24 weeks

A number of Dutch hospitals are preparing to commit abortions up to 24 weeks as part of a pilot program seeking to make it easier for women to abort at any time, for any reason.

Key Takeaways:

• The Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (NVOG) is piloting a program to allow the abortion of preborn children up to 24 weeks of pregnancy for "social" reasons, including if the pregnancy is unwanted or unplanned.

• Though abortion is legal up to 24 weeks, it has rarely been committed past 22 weeks in the country.

• The NVOG has admitted that it is "not infrequent" that children are born alive during abortion attempts at this late stage.

The Details:

News reports from the Netherlands indicate that the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (NVOG) and hospitals have now agreed on a protocol allowing hospitals to perform abortions between 22 and 24 weeks.

OLVG Hospital in Amsterdam has already launched the program with four pregnancies set to end with 24-week abortions, while several other hospitals are "exploring" ways to also participate. Abortions in this program are being committed because the preborn child is unwanted or unplanned, not due to any medical diagnosis.

As reported by Nationale Zorggids:

The participating hospitals plan to terminate four pregnancies each between 22 and 24 weeks next year for women with a so-called social indication, for example because a pregnancy is unwanted.

According to NL Times, abortion is legal up until 24 weeks in the nation, but up until now has been rarely committed past 22 weeks, and often then only for a prenatal diagnosis or other 'medical indications' — not 'social' reasons.

Because of these requirements, abortion supporters have lamented that women must travel out of the country to abort their preborn children later in pregnancy, prompting this new trial program.

Zoom In:

OLVG Hospital held three “moral consultations” to determine that it would be permissible to kill the preborn children, even though they may be old enough to survive outside the womb.

"The hospital concluded that individual staff members are always allowed to refuse, but the team as a whole does have a duty to provide this care," the NL Times reported, also noting "the pilot is in its initial phase, and the OLVG will not disclose any information about its implementation at this stage."

Even more troubling, the NVOG has approved the program while also warning that it is "not infrequent" that babies are born alive when abortions are committed at this late stage.

These are all red flags. Babies old enough to survive outside the womb will be ruthlessly killed via abortion, and staff has a "duty" to ensure this happens. Meanwhile, there is no assurance that the child will be protected and given care should she be born alive, which is a possible outcome. And there will be no information reported about how the program will be implemented, which calls into question the amount of oversight involved.

Stef Groenewoud, a professor and moral ethicist, appeared to support the program while also admitting that it could place hospital staff in a difficult situation.

“It is not good that these women have to go abroad. But performing abortions on maternity wards is also a far cry from why people chose to work in a hospital in the first place,” Groenewoud told Het Parool.

What We're Hearing:

In defending the program, the NVOG has claimed that abortion is “legally permitted and necessary healthcare,” citing data that shows around 225 women travel abroad for late abortions each year.

“It is not about large numbers, but about pregnant women in an extremely vulnerable situation," the statement said. 

Members of the Christian political party SPG are reportedly "shocked and appalled" at the program. Member of Parliament Diederik van Dijk was also outraged that lawmakers were reportedly unaware that this was taking place.

“How on earth is it possible that we as Parliament knew nothing about this?” he asked, as he demanded answers from Minister of Health Sophie Hermans.

The Bottom Line:

There is never a situation in which it is necessary or morally acceptable to kill a child in the womb. Doing so simply because the child is unwanted or unplanned, especially at a stage when that child could survive outside the womb if given proper medical care, exposes the abject evil of abortion.