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Pain relief for unborn babies undergoing surgery but none for babies in a late term abortion

Babies undergoing spinal surgery in the womb between 20 and 26 weeks gestation are routinely given pain relief prior to their operation. However, babies whose lives are ended by abortion after 20 weeks are given no pain relief.

At the same time as there have been developments in in-utero surgery to treat babies with spina bifida, there were also 3,602 abortions which took place after 20 weeks gestation in 2018 in England and Wales.

The Department of State for Health and Social Care now admit that while foetuses are given painkillers prior to their surgery – which takes place between 20 and 26 weeks gestation – foetuses at the same gestational age or older whose lives are ended by an abortion do not receive any pain relief.

This inconsistency came to light earlier this year when Sir Edward Leigh MP asked whether painkillers would be administered to babies undergoing spinal surgery in the womb. In response, Jackie Doyle-Price MP said:

“Pain relief for the unborn baby will be delivered intra-operatively. This is administered before the fetal surgery, after the uterus is opened… The surgery takes place between 20 and 26 weeks of gestation.”

This pain relief is administered on the assumption that the baby can feel pain, but babies at the same gestational age are not being given pain relief if their life is being ended in an abortion.

In an abortion after 22 weeks – a point at which children are known to have survived outside of the womb – potassium chloride is injected in the foetal heart. This is the same chemical used to execute inmates in the US (although in these cases painkillers are always given first).

Human Rights Watch describes potassium chloride as “excruciatingly painful if administered without proper anaesthesia. When injected into a vein, it inflames the potassium ions in the sensory nerve fibres, literally burning up the veins as it travels to the heart.”

Commenting on this inconsistency, Professor John Wyatt, an ethicist at University College London and a retired consultant neonatologist said:

The fact that death is imminent does not remove our ethical obligation to treat pain, even when we cannot be certain if it is present.

Clare McCarthy of Right To Life UK said:

“On the one hand, we have children who are undergoing spinal surgery in the womb and given painkillers during such a procedure. This is exactly what we would expect for anyone outside of the womb undergoing a serious operation and it is absolutely right that babies in the womb are given this kind of care.”

“On the other hand, babies destined for abortion, at the same gestational age and therefore able to feel pain to the same degree, are not given any pain relief before their lives are ended.”

“There are about 10 abortions after 20 weeks every day in Britain. Every abortion is a tragedy, and the continued refusal to give pain relief to babies destined for abortion adds to that tragedy further.”

(Photo credit – Adobe Stock:Africa Studio)

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Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Dear reader,

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of people like you across the UK, the McArthur assisted suicide Bill in Scotland was defeated in March by 69 votes to 57.

Then, in April, the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill fell in the House of Lords.

Many commentators thought both Bills would become law.

If that had happened, governments in England, Scotland and Wales would now be preparing to roll out assisted suicide services.

Over the coming decades, this would have led to the deaths of many thousands of vulnerable people.

But that is not what happened.

Because supporters like you acted, those Bills were stopped.

Because of you, many vulnerable lives have been saved.

These were two very significant victories. But sadly, they are not the last battles we face this year.

The new Parliamentary session began on Wednesday. We now face three major threats.

  1. Attempts to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill and bypass the House of Lords

    The assisted suicide lobby, led by Dignity in Dying, a multi-million-pound pressure group, has made it clear that it is going to attempt to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill in the next parliamentary session.

    It then plans to use the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords and force the Bill into law.

  2. Labour Government plans for a major expansion of abortion provision, including financial incentives for ‘lunch-hour’ abortions

    Under these plans, the Government would financially incentivise major abortion providers, BPAS and MSI Reproductive Choices, to provide ‘lunch-hour’ or ‘same-day’ abortions.

    ‘Lunch-hour’ abortion services are walk-in abortion services designed to fit into a woman’s lunch hour.

    Women facing an unplanned pregnancy need time, care and support, not a system that gives abortion clinics a financial incentive to rush them through consultations, scans and abortions on the same day.

    If these plans go ahead, many more lives are likely to be ended by abortion here in the UK.

  3. Extreme abortion up to birth proposals in Scotland

    In Scotland, plans are moving forward to introduce an extreme abortion up to birth law. This would go far beyond the abortion law change recently backed by the Lords for England and Wales.

    A review of abortion law in Scotland, commissioned by Humza Yousaf when he was Scottish First Minister, recommended that the Scottish Government scrap the current 24-week time limit – and abortion be available on social grounds, including for sex-selective purposes, right up to birth.

    The final plans are expected to be brought forward as a Government Bill in the new Scottish Parliament, which begins this Thursday.

If these three major threats succeed, thousands of vulnerable lives will be lost.

We cannot allow this to happen.

We can only defeat these three major threats with your help.

We ran our biggest campaigns ever to help defeat the assisted suicide Bills at Westminster and in Scotland.

That work has made a serious dent in our limited resources.

To cover this gap and ensure we can effectively defeat these three major threats in the coming months, we are aiming to raise at least £199,250 by midnight this Sunday (17 May 2026).

We are, therefore, appealing to you to please give as generously as you can.

Every donation, large or small, will make a crucial difference in saving the lives of the unborn and many others. Plus, if you are a UK taxpayer, £1 becomes £1.25 with Gift Aid at no extra cost to you.

By stopping these threats, YOU can save lives during this new Parliamentary session.

Will you donate now to help protect vulnerable lives from these three major threats?

EMERGENCY
APPEAL
to SAVE
lives

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help stop three major anti-life threats.