1
00:00:02,260 --> 00:00:08,460
American Progressives look to Western Europe
as the model of what America should be.

2
00:00:08,460 --> 00:00:13,620
So, here’s an area of European social policy
that Progressives will definitely want to

3
00:00:13,629 --> 00:00:19,029
examine more closely: Europe’s attitude
toward…abortion.

4
00:00:19,029 --> 00:00:24,649
It happens to be much more restrictive than
that of the United States. That’s right.

5
00:00:24,649 --> 00:00:30,280
Western Europeans -- as progressive and secular
as they are -- have a much more conservative

6
00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:34,480
attitude about abortion than American Progressives
do.

7
00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:41,680
Here is what Emily Matchar wrote in The Atlantic
magazine in 2013: “I assumed that Western

8
00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:47,560
Europe would be the land of abortion on demand…But
as it turns out, abortion laws in Europe are

9
00:00:47,569 --> 00:00:53,300
both more restrictive and more complicated
than that. Waiting periods, decried by American

10
00:00:53,300 --> 00:00:58,909
pro-choicers as…unreasonably burdensome,
are common…”

11
00:00:58,909 --> 00:01:05,430
In Germany, for example, nearly all abortions
are illegal after 12 weeks. And there is a

12
00:01:05,430 --> 00:01:11,189
three-day waiting period and mandatory counseling
before a woman is allowed to have an abortion,

13
00:01:11,189 --> 00:01:16,769
even during the permitted first 12 weeks.
That’s more restrictive than Texas.

14
00:01:16,769 --> 00:01:23,120
In the U.S., abortions are legal in every
state before a pregnancy has reached its 20th week.

15
00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:29,020
After that some restrictions do kick
in. 11 states prohibit abortions after the

16
00:01:29,020 --> 00:01:33,940
20th week of pregnancy. 20 states prohibit
abortions at the point of viability,

17
00:01:33,940 --> 00:01:39,300
which is when a baby can survive outside the womb.
They usually recognize that as being

18
00:01:39,310 --> 00:01:48,740
between 23-25 weeks…3 states prohibit abortion
after the 28th week…And 7 states plus Washington, D.C.

19
00:01:48,740 --> 00:01:53,740
allow abortions to be performed at any
point in a pregnancy -- even if the mother

20
00:01:53,749 --> 00:01:57,789
could safely give birth to a viable and healthy
baby.

21
00:01:57,789 --> 00:02:04,309
But in Belgium, like Germany, abortions are
permissible only until the 12th week.

22
00:02:04,309 --> 00:02:11,069
After that an abortion is permitted only if the
woman’s life is in danger. Furthermore,

23
00:02:11,069 --> 00:02:16,560
any woman getting an abortion must wait six
days after her first medical consultation

24
00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,180
before an abortion can be performed.

25
00:02:19,180 --> 00:02:26,560
Denmark is similar: After 12 weeks all sorts
of restrictions apply. Pregnant women in Finland

26
00:02:26,570 --> 00:02:31,780
also have until the 12th week of pregnancy
to get an unrestricted abortion, and during

27
00:02:31,780 --> 00:02:37,860
those first 12 weeks, a woman must provide
a compelling reason for ending her pregnancy.

28
00:02:37,860 --> 00:02:44,180
In France, too, abortion on demand is legal
only up to 12 weeks, after which it becomes

29
00:02:44,190 --> 00:02:51,430
much more difficult. Socialist Sweden allows
abortions until the 18th week of pregnancy,

30
00:02:51,430 --> 00:02:58,120
and bans most after the 22nd week. In that
four week “gray” period, a woman can get

31
00:02:58,130 --> 00:03:04,090
an abortion, but only if it is approved by
the National Board of Health and Welfare.

32
00:03:04,090 --> 00:03:10,200
In the Netherlands, before having an abortion
a woman has to wait five days and attend a

33
00:03:10,210 --> 00:03:14,910
counseling session in which she must be informed
of the different options available to her,

34
00:03:14,910 --> 00:03:21,320
including taking the pregnancy to term and
giving her baby up for adoption. A minor under

35
00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:27,460
the age of 18 cannot have an abortion at any
time unless she has the consent of her parents.

36
00:03:27,460 --> 00:03:33,420
And in Norway in 2014, a major controversy
erupted after it was revealed that,

37
00:03:33,420 --> 00:03:40,940
since 2001, 17 babies had been aborted after 22
weeks, the legal cut off point in that country.

38
00:03:40,940 --> 00:03:47,060
That wouldn’t merit a paragraph in a local
U.S. newspaper, let alone start a media firestorm.

39
00:03:47,060 --> 00:03:52,620
So why is it that abortion laws in the United
States are so extreme relative to those in Europe?

40
00:03:52,620 --> 00:03:57,360
Why is it that progressive politicians
in the United States work tirelessly to fight

41
00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:03,560
back any restrictions on abortion, even partial-birth
abortion. That’s the procedure during which

42
00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:10,700
a fully viable baby is almost completely delivered,
except for the head, before being killed.

43
00:04:10,700 --> 00:04:15,660
And why is it that what is unacceptable to
socially enlightened Europeans

44
00:04:15,660 --> 00:04:19,340
is fully acceptable to American progressives?

45
00:04:19,340 --> 00:04:25,440
Europeans seem to recognize that abortion
is a complex moral issue; that ending a life

46
00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:30,380
after a certain point in a pregnancy does
not reflect well on a society.

47
00:04:30,380 --> 00:04:35,560
Why is it so hard for American Progressives to recognize the same?

48
00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:39,680
I’m Elisha Krauss for Prager University.