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EXCLUSIVE: UK pro-life leader says no matter the cost, 'we must stick to' pro-life convictions
Angeline Tan
·Spotlight Articles
The US had 'abortion rights' for 50 years. It didn't improve women's health
Earlier this week, First Lady Melania Trump announced a new executive order to advance women's health. The pro-abortion pushback was swift.
Part of the reason for this is because induced abortion and maternal healthcare in emergencies have been conflated by a pro-abortion media and the abortion industry, causing confusion among women and turning even cases of clear medical neglect into calls for induced abortion to be legalized through all nine months of pregnancy.
President Trump signed a new executive order this week to advance women's health.
The order was met with criticism as the Trump administration has cut funding to certain research and health care intitiatives.
However, complaints about the order also attacked it for not including abortion.
Notably, a similar order from former President Biden in 2024 also did not include abortion.
Abortion is not healthcare and data show that legalized abortion worsens maternal health outcomes.
The executive order, "Advancing Women's Health to Improve Outcomes in All Phases of Life," is "committed to advancing women's health and ensuring that medical research, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment reflect the highest quality scientific evidence, with the goal of improving health outcomes in all phases of life."
It continues:
"Despite considerable advances in biomedical science, many diseases and conditions that disproportionately or uniquely affect women have not received the level of research, clinical attention, and treatment that other diseases and conditions have received."
Former President Biden signed an executive order with a similar goal of expanding federal research on women's health conditions in 2024.
Trump's order rescinds Biden's and replaces what Biden created to be a first-lady led initiative with a formal White House task force led by officials.
Neither order mentions abortion.
While there have been criticisms regarding Trump's order lacking new funding dedicated to women's health and previous budget cuts to federal medical research projects, there have also been complaints from abortion supporters that the order does not include abortion, that there is an ongoing medical review of the abortion pill mifepristone, and that the administration cut federal Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood for one year. That funding has since been restored.
On X, social media users reacted to the executive order announcement with short-sighted comments that illustrate how the idea of "women's healthcare" has become synonymous with abortion for far too many years:
"I'm pretty sure 'shifting away from the fight for women's rights' won't help women's health."
"Sure. Then bring back legal abortion. Women's rights include the right to health care."
Let's be clear. Abortion is not healthcare. It is intentional killing, and state laws protecting preborn humans define it as such. Intentional killing is not necessary to protect women's health.
America had legalized abortion in every state for nearly 50 years and still had a high maternal mortality rate compared to other nations, including nations with pro-life protections in place.
Induced abortion's goal is to ensure that the preborn child dies; even the pro-abortion ACOG has defined it this way, as Live Action News previously reported.
No procedure aimed at protecting a pregnant woman's health or life carries the intent to kill the preborn child inside her.
Miscarriage treatment, ectopic pregnancy care, and induced labor or emergency C-sections do not carry the intent that baby dies, and are not abortions. They are all completely legal in every state.
In 2013, while Roe v. Wade was still in effect, the U.S. saw 28 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. For comparison, according to a report from the United Nations, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates each had eight (8) maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, Uruguay had 14, Switzerland had six (6), Sweden, Spain, and Italy saw four (4) each, Slovenia and Slovakia had seven (7) each, Poland had three (3), Israel had two (2), and Malta had nine (9). Lebanon (16), Serbia (16), Saudi Arabia (16), Latvia (13), Libya (15), Lithuania (11), and Qatar (6) all had lower rates than the U.S.
➡️ The U.S. maternal mortality rate rose from 12 deaths for every 100,000 live births in 1990 to 28 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2013 — and increase of 136% under Roe v. Wade.
Meanwhile, the majority of the nations that saw lower maternal mortality rates than the U.S. had stronger pro-life laws in place.
In 2013...
The UK allowed abortion through 24 weeks with the approval of two doctors.
The UAE, Libya, Qatar, and Lebanon did not allow any abortions unless the mother's life was at risk.
Uruguay, Switzerland, Slovakia, Latvia, and Lithuania allowed abortion through 12 weeks.
Sweden allowed abortion through 18 weeks.
Spain allowed it through 14 weeks.
Slovenia and Serbia allowed abortion through 10 weeks.
Saudi Arabia and Poland allowed abortion only when the mother's health or life was at risk or in cases of fetal diagnosis.
Italy allowed abortion in the first 90 days.
Women in Israel needed an abortion to be approved by a hospital committee.
Malta didn't allow abortion for any reason.
But in the U.S., under Roe, abortion was allowed through birth under the loophole of 'maternal health' which was defined so expansively that it included a woman's "financial" and "familial" health.
Following a peak of 916 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1918, the U.S. saw the maternal mortality rate plummet to a low of 7.54 in 1984. It began to rise again in the 1990s, which is when abortion numbers peaked as well, at 1.6 million.
The maternal mortality rate reached 17.4 in January 2019 before hitting 33.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in February 2022 — before the Dobbs decision overturned Roe.
Since then, that rate has steadily dropped and was at 15.4 in February 2026, according to preliminary data from the CDC.
The Maternal Mental Health Alliance graphed the maternal death rates of several nations from 1990 to 2023, showing the sharp incline in the U.S. beginning in 2000, while other nations saw a decline. (Oddly enough, 2000 was also the year that the abortion pill was introduced into the United States.)
Data from The World Health Organization showed that by 2020, the U.S. was 'lagging behind in fight against maternal mortality.' A graph from Statista showed rates of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births across several nations in 2020:
In 2020, Norway had the lowest maternal mortality, at 1.7 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Canada had a rate of 11, and the US had a rate of 21.1.
These numbers were all prior to the fall of Roe, during the years in which abortion was widely accessible and legal in every U.S. state at least through viability (presumed to be 24 weeks) and after viability for health reasons that included a woman's physical, mental, financial, and familial health.
With such a broad scope of 'health' reasons, abortion was allowed for virtually any reason as long as there was a doctor willing to commit late abortions. (There were and are.)
There's no evidence that expanding the availability of induced abortion will improve the maternal mortality rate. The factors that influence maternal mortality are vast (including substance abuse, etc.).
Legalized abortion has done nothing to protect women's health because it is not healthcare. It does not treat or heal. The goal of abortion is always to kill.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Angeline Tan
·
Guest Column
Liberty Counsel
·
Politics
Bridget Sielicki
·
Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·
Politics
Nancy Flanders
·
Politics
Mark Wiltz
·
Issues
Nancy Flanders
·
Issues
Nancy Flanders
·
Pop Culture
Nancy Flanders
·
Analysis
Nancy Flanders
·
Pop Culture
Nancy Flanders
·The US had 'abortion rights' for 50 years. It didn't improve women's health
Earlier this week, First Lady Melania Trump announced a new executive order to advance women's health. The pro-abortion pushback was swift.
Part of the reason for this is because induced abortion and maternal healthcare in emergencies have been conflated by a pro-abortion media and the abortion industry, causing confusion among women and turning even cases of clear medical neglect into calls for induced abortion to be legalized through all nine months of pregnancy.
President Trump signed a new executive order this week to advance women's health.
The order was met with criticism as the Trump administration has cut funding to certain research and health care intitiatives.
However, complaints about the order also attacked it for not including abortion.
Notably, a similar order from former President Biden in 2024 also did not include abortion.
Abortion is not healthcare and data show that legalized abortion worsens maternal health outcomes.
The executive order, "Advancing Women's Health to Improve Outcomes in All Phases of Life," is "committed to advancing women's health and ensuring that medical research, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment reflect the highest quality scientific evidence, with the goal of improving health outcomes in all phases of life."
It continues:
"Despite considerable advances in biomedical science, many diseases and conditions that disproportionately or uniquely affect women have not received the level of research, clinical attention, and treatment that other diseases and conditions have received."
Former President Biden signed an executive order with a similar goal of expanding federal research on women's health conditions in 2024.
Trump's order rescinds Biden's and replaces what Biden created to be a first-lady led initiative with a formal White House task force led by officials.
Neither order mentions abortion.
While there have been criticisms regarding Trump's order lacking new funding dedicated to women's health and previous budget cuts to federal medical research projects, there have also been complaints from abortion supporters that the order does not include abortion, that there is an ongoing medical review of the abortion pill mifepristone, and that the administration cut federal Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood for one year. That funding has since been restored.
On X, social media users reacted to the executive order announcement with short-sighted comments that illustrate how the idea of "women's healthcare" has become synonymous with abortion for far too many years:
"I'm pretty sure 'shifting away from the fight for women's rights' won't help women's health."
"Sure. Then bring back legal abortion. Women's rights include the right to health care."
Let's be clear. Abortion is not healthcare. It is intentional killing, and state laws protecting preborn humans define it as such. Intentional killing is not necessary to protect women's health.
America had legalized abortion in every state for nearly 50 years and still had a high maternal mortality rate compared to other nations, including nations with pro-life protections in place.
Induced abortion's goal is to ensure that the preborn child dies; even the pro-abortion ACOG has defined it this way, as Live Action News previously reported.
No procedure aimed at protecting a pregnant woman's health or life carries the intent to kill the preborn child inside her.
Miscarriage treatment, ectopic pregnancy care, and induced labor or emergency C-sections do not carry the intent that baby dies, and are not abortions. They are all completely legal in every state.
In 2013, while Roe v. Wade was still in effect, the U.S. saw 28 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. For comparison, according to a report from the United Nations, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates each had eight (8) maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, Uruguay had 14, Switzerland had six (6), Sweden, Spain, and Italy saw four (4) each, Slovenia and Slovakia had seven (7) each, Poland had three (3), Israel had two (2), and Malta had nine (9). Lebanon (16), Serbia (16), Saudi Arabia (16), Latvia (13), Libya (15), Lithuania (11), and Qatar (6) all had lower rates than the U.S.
➡️ The U.S. maternal mortality rate rose from 12 deaths for every 100,000 live births in 1990 to 28 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2013 — and increase of 136% under Roe v. Wade.
Meanwhile, the majority of the nations that saw lower maternal mortality rates than the U.S. had stronger pro-life laws in place.
In 2013...
The UK allowed abortion through 24 weeks with the approval of two doctors.
The UAE, Libya, Qatar, and Lebanon did not allow any abortions unless the mother's life was at risk.
Uruguay, Switzerland, Slovakia, Latvia, and Lithuania allowed abortion through 12 weeks.
Sweden allowed abortion through 18 weeks.
Spain allowed it through 14 weeks.
Slovenia and Serbia allowed abortion through 10 weeks.
Saudi Arabia and Poland allowed abortion only when the mother's health or life was at risk or in cases of fetal diagnosis.
Italy allowed abortion in the first 90 days.
Women in Israel needed an abortion to be approved by a hospital committee.
Malta didn't allow abortion for any reason.
But in the U.S., under Roe, abortion was allowed through birth under the loophole of 'maternal health' which was defined so expansively that it included a woman's "financial" and "familial" health.
Following a peak of 916 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1918, the U.S. saw the maternal mortality rate plummet to a low of 7.54 in 1984. It began to rise again in the 1990s, which is when abortion numbers peaked as well, at 1.6 million.
The maternal mortality rate reached 17.4 in January 2019 before hitting 33.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in February 2022 — before the Dobbs decision overturned Roe.
Since then, that rate has steadily dropped and was at 15.4 in February 2026, according to preliminary data from the CDC.
The Maternal Mental Health Alliance graphed the maternal death rates of several nations from 1990 to 2023, showing the sharp incline in the U.S. beginning in 2000, while other nations saw a decline. (Oddly enough, 2000 was also the year that the abortion pill was introduced into the United States.)
Data from The World Health Organization showed that by 2020, the U.S. was 'lagging behind in fight against maternal mortality.' A graph from Statista showed rates of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births across several nations in 2020:
In 2020, Norway had the lowest maternal mortality, at 1.7 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Canada had a rate of 11, and the US had a rate of 21.1.
These numbers were all prior to the fall of Roe, during the years in which abortion was widely accessible and legal in every U.S. state at least through viability (presumed to be 24 weeks) and after viability for health reasons that included a woman's physical, mental, financial, and familial health.
With such a broad scope of 'health' reasons, abortion was allowed for virtually any reason as long as there was a doctor willing to commit late abortions. (There were and are.)
There's no evidence that expanding the availability of induced abortion will improve the maternal mortality rate. The factors that influence maternal mortality are vast (including substance abuse, etc.).
Legalized abortion has done nothing to protect women's health because it is not healthcare. It does not treat or heal. The goal of abortion is always to kill.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Angeline Tan
·Guest Column
Liberty Counsel
·Politics
Bridget Sielicki
·Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·Politics
Nancy Flanders
·Politics
Mark Wiltz
·Issues
Nancy Flanders
·Issues
Nancy Flanders
·Pop Culture
Nancy Flanders
·Analysis
Nancy Flanders
·Pop Culture
Nancy Flanders
·
