The UK may have left the European Union at the beginning of this year, but in one important aspect, our country has been disconnected from our continental cousins for much longer. Whilst the UK has permitted abortions in most cases up to 24 weeks since 1990, (before that, allowing up to 28 weeks, following the 1967 law change) the median among EU member states is half that at just 12 weeks.
This means that the UK’s upper abortion limit is double that of countries we consider culturally similar to ours, the likes of France, Belgium, Denmark, and Ireland. In Europe, only the Netherlands allows abortions as late as here, and a mere handful of countries across the world permit terminations at 24 weeks.
