Professor Wendy Savage, president of pro-abortion group Doctors for Choice UK, appears to have argued that because “babies die every week”, it was ok to “procure an abortion which led to the death of a baby”, in this case referring to a baby that was aborted at at least 32 weeks gestation, at least 8 weeks after the 24-week time limit for abortions in the UK.
Discussing the case of Carla Foster on LBC radio, Professor Savage was questioned by host Iain Dale over whether it was justifiable for Ms Foster to abort a baby who could have survived if she had been born at the same gestation at which she was aborted.
The former Obstetrician, who has performed abortions herself, first admitted that it was the death of a “baby” that happened in this abortion at no less than 32 weeks gestation.
In a statement that has been branded “savage” she then went on to say “how many babies die every week in this country? And, as we keep on seeing, these maternity scandals [show] that the care that is given to women is not perfect”.
It appeared that she was saying that because babies die every week in the UK because of sub-standard pregnancy care, it was somehow justifiable to deliberately end the life of a viable baby.
Avid proponent of abortion for gender and abortion up to birth
This is not the first time that Professor Savage has been in the spotlight over her disturbing views.
In 2017, she made headlines following an interview with The Mail on Sunday during which she expressed full support for sex-selective abortion. She said “If a woman does not want to have a foetus who is one sex or the other, forcing her [to go through with the pregnancy] is not going to be good for the eventual child”.
At the time, Professor Savage was a leading member of the British Medical Association’s (BMA) medical ethics committee. It was also revealed that she was heading a campaign to encourage the BMA to adopt a stance in favour of decriminalising abortion.
In response to these revelations, an Early Day Motion was tabled by MPs across parties to record their “shock” at her calls to legalise sex-selective abortion, to make abortion available on demand up to birth, and to influence the BMA to adopt this stance.
Despite claiming to focus on women, Savage dismissed as “myth” the claim that sex-selective abortion, which predominantly targets female fetuses, is happening in the UK. This ignores personal testimony from women who have been forced into sex-selective abortions in the UK by their partner or family.
Abortion providers shirking responsibility
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), the abortion provider responsible for providing Ms Foster with the pills to end her baby’s life, is now cynically using this woman’s tragic experience of its abortion service to lobby the Government and MPs to introduce abortion up to birth throughout the United Kingdom.
BPAS has been campaigning for this law change and has made it explicit that it is campaigning to remove all gestational time limits for abortion. This position was affirmed by its then CEO, Ann Furedi, who, at the launch of the campaign to ‘decriminalise’ abortion stated, “I want to be very, very clear and blunt … there should be no legal upper limit”.
“Savage and callous” remarks
Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said “Professor Savage’s comments are truly savage and callous. As the radio presenter kept on reminding us, this situation involves a baby who would have survived had she been allowed to be born. These extreme views are completely out of touch with public opinion”.
“A poll undertaken by Savanta ComRes of 2,008 British adults showed that 70% of women believed that the current 24-week time limit ought to be reduced to 20 weeks or below. Only 1% of the general public believed that abortion should be available up to birth”.
“The same poll also showed that 91% of women and 89% of the general population agree that gender-selective abortion should be explicitly banned by the law”.
“If poor pregnancy and maternity care is influencing women’s decision to have an abortion, that is a shocking indictment of our society. The proper response is to improve care for women rather than savagely concluding that it is okay to end the life of babies in these circumstances”.
“We are calling for the reinstatement of in-person appointments before abortions take place to ensure that the gestation of babies can accurately be assessed”.”
“We are also calling for a full inquiry into the abortion provider, BPAS, for sending out abortion pills to a woman whose baby, Lily, was 22 weeks beyond the legal limit for at-home abortions”.“The Government must firmly reject changing legislation to make abortion legal right up to birth, as is proposed by abortion campaigners, led by BPAS, who are using this tragic case to call for the removal of more abortion safeguards and to build momentum for their campaign to introduce abortion up to birth across the United Kingdom.”
