THE DETAILS:

“I am pro-choice, but I think it’s ludicrous, utterly ludicrous that we can allow abortion up to 24 weeks,” said Farage. “And yet, if a child is born prematurely at 22 weeks, your local hospital will move heaven and earth and probably succeed in that child surviving and going on and living a normal life. So I believe there is an inconsistency in the law. I believe it is totally out of date.”

This isn’t the first time he made such comments; in November, while speaking about his vote against the UK’s assisted suicide bill, he brought up his stance on abortion without being given any prompting, and said Parliament should open a debate on the issue.

“Is 24 weeks right for abortion given that we now save babies at 22?” he said. “That to me would be worthy of a debate in parliament but should that be along party lines? I don’t think so.”

THE OTHER SIDE:

Unsurprisingly, the British abortion industry was not pleased.

“Calls to reduce the time limits are based on ideology and are not supported by clinical evidence,” claimed Louise McCudden, the head of external affairs at MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes International), one of the world’s largest abortion conglomerates. “If MPs are going to debate anything on this issue, it should be reforming our Victorian abortion laws which leave women threatened with prison for making decisions about our own bodies.”

COMMENTARY:

It is, in fact, true that children are capable of surviving at 24, 23, 22, and even as early as 21 weeks gestation in some cases; this is not based on ‘ideology’. And scientifically speaking, remarkable prenatal growth and development take place in the first and second trimesters, even before 21 weeks, that further proves a preborn child’s humanity.

By 13 weeks gestation, the preborn child can respond to light touch, and by 18 weeks, she has speaking movements in her voice box. By 20 weeks, she can hear and respond to noises from the outside world. Her skin and bones are fully formed, and – as mentioned – she can typically survive outside of the womb at 24 weeks, and sometimes earlier. All of this is in addition to the incredible facts about first trimester development. This is all clinical evidence.

Yet somehow, it’s simply ‘ideological’ to say that it makes no sense to allow the killing of preborn children at the same age they can survive outside of the womb?

Far from what McCudden claimed, there is no clinical evidence justifying abortion at any age. Her stance is entirely ideological; scientifically, we know that a human being, from fertilization, has human DNA. There is nothing scientific about justifying the direct and intentional killing of a preborn child at any age.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Though Farage’s remarks are true — allowing abortion up to 24 weeks is ludicrous — a human is a human from the moment of fertilization, when the sperm and egg cell fuse and create a new human organism with his or her own unique DNA. That human has an inherent right to not be killed.

Human life should be respected from the moment of existence as a member of the human family — not at 22 weeks, 12 weeks, or some other arbitrary point based on arbitrary characteristics. Simply being a human is enough.

If it is wrong to intentionally kill an innocent human being, and abortion always kills an innocent human being, then abortion is always wrong.

THE DETAILS:

“I am pro-choice, but I think it’s ludicrous, utterly ludicrous that we can allow abortion up to 24 weeks,” said Farage. “And yet, if a child is born prematurely at 22 weeks, your local hospital will move heaven and earth and probably succeed in that child surviving and going on and living a normal life. So I believe there is an inconsistency in the law. I believe it is totally out of date.”

This isn’t the first time he made such comments; in November, while speaking about his vote against the UK’s assisted suicide bill, he brought up his stance on abortion without being given any prompting, and said Parliament should open a debate on the issue.

“Is 24 weeks right for abortion given that we now save babies at 22?” he said. “That to me would be worthy of a debate in parliament but should that be along party lines? I don’t think so.”

THE OTHER SIDE:

Unsurprisingly, the British abortion industry was not pleased.

“Calls to reduce the time limits are based on ideology and are not supported by clinical evidence,” claimed Louise McCudden, the head of external affairs at MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes International), one of the world’s largest abortion conglomerates. “If MPs are going to debate anything on this issue, it should be reforming our Victorian abortion laws which leave women threatened with prison for making decisions about our own bodies.”

COMMENTARY:

It is, in fact, true that children are capable of surviving at 24, 23, 22, and even as early as 21 weeks gestation in some cases; this is not based on ‘ideology’. And scientifically speaking, remarkable prenatal growth and development take place in the first and second trimesters, even before 21 weeks, that further proves a preborn child’s humanity.

By 13 weeks gestation, the preborn child can respond to light touch, and by 18 weeks, she has speaking movements in her voice box. By 20 weeks, she can hear and respond to noises from the outside world. Her skin and bones are fully formed, and – as mentioned – she can typically survive outside of the womb at 24 weeks, and sometimes earlier. All of this is in addition to the incredible facts about first trimester development. This is all clinical evidence.

Yet somehow, it’s simply ‘ideological’ to say that it makes no sense to allow the killing of preborn children at the same age they can survive outside of the womb?

Far from what McCudden claimed, there is no clinical evidence justifying abortion at any age. Her stance is entirely ideological; scientifically, we know that a human being, from fertilization, has human DNA. There is nothing scientific about justifying the direct and intentional killing of a preborn child at any age.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Though Farage’s remarks are true — allowing abortion up to 24 weeks is ludicrous — a human is a human from the moment of fertilization, when the sperm and egg cell fuse and create a new human organism with his or her own unique DNA. That human has an inherent right to not be killed.

Human life should be respected from the moment of existence as a member of the human family — not at 22 weeks, 12 weeks, or some other arbitrary point based on arbitrary characteristics. Simply being a human is enough.

If it is wrong to intentionally kill an innocent human being, and abortion always kills an innocent human being, then abortion is always wrong.

Cassy Cooke