6 days ago
Nigel Farage is trying to restrict your abortion rights, as Reform UK gains political momentum
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has suggested that he wants to reduce the abortion limit.
Former I'm a Celebrity contestant Farage, 61, told onlookers at a news conference that he believed the law - in which you can have an abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy - 'was totally out of date." He added that he wants to make it 'easier for women to have children' after announcing he would scrap some taxes and the two-child benefit cap, should be be given the keys to Number 10.
However, experts have labelled his plans as "fantasy economics' which have not been properly costed and accounted for – highlighting that his statements may sound good on paper and are easy to say when you're not actually the party in power, balancing the books.
'I am pro-choice, but I think it's ludicrous, utterly ludicrous, that we can allow abortion up to 24 weeks,' Farage said at the conference.
'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 I believe it is totally out of date.'
Less than 1% of abortions are thought to happen in the later stages of a pregnancy, according to government data. Experts in the abortion space say they are concerned that should Farage one day get power, 'floating the idea of reducing the time limit' is just the start.
'The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has always said there is no case for reducing the abortion time limit and every single reputable medical body and reproductive health expert agrees,' Louise McCudden, MSI Reproductive Choices' UK Head of External Affairs, told Cosmopolitan UK.
'The vast majority of abortion procedures take place under 10 weeks. However, there are women for whom access to abortion care at 22 weeks is absolutely critical, including when medical complications occur in a wanted pregnancy, forcing women to make incredibly tough decisions very quickly.'
Abortion is legal in England, Scotland and Wales, but only if strict caveats are met. Two doctors need to agree that it would cause less harm to the woman's physical or mental health, or the health of existing children, than continuing the pregnancy before 24 weeks.
After 24 weeks, abortions are generally only permitted if the woman's life is at risk or if there is a severe fetal abnormality.
'The legal limit for an abortion is 24 weeks' gestation. This is the point at which the fetus is viable outside the woman's body,' states the government. 'Abortions may be performed after 24 weeks in certain circumstances - for example, if the woman's life is at risk or the fetus would be born severely disabled.
'Abortions where gestation is 24 weeks or over account for a very small number of abortions (0.1% of the total). There were 260 such abortions in 2022.'
Farage has previously suggested that there should be a debate about the maximum gestation period for abortion to be permitted.
When he announced former Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns had broken ranks to become Reform UK's newest recruit in November, Farage said: 'Is 24 weeks right for abortion, given that we now save babies at 22? That to me would be worthy of a debate in parliament but should that be along party lines? I don't think so.'
Cosmopolitan UK has contacted Reform UK for comment.
Farage's comments come as Cosmopolitan UK has partnered with leading abortion provider BPAS to campaign to 'End 1861' and call for urgent law reform that would decriminalise abortion in England and Wales. It hopes to see the rare cases, like Nicola Packer's, to be treated with compassion rather than prosecution.
A BPAS spokesperson told Cosmopolitan UK: 'We do agree with Nigel Farage on one point - that our abortion law is out-of-date. Currently, under a law passed in 1861 - before women even had the right to vote - abortion remains a crime in England and Wales. Alongside medical bodies and women's rights organisations, we are backing Tonia Antoniazzi MP's cross-party amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which would reform our archaic legislation by removing women from the criminal law in relation to ending a pregnancy. This is the right way to update our abortion law - through compassionate, considered reform, not through the imposition of cruel restrictions.'
You can find out more information about the campaign here. You can find our template on how to write to your MP about the issue here.
Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper's Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.
