The U.S. should have a 15-week national abortion ban, former Vice President Mike Pence said at the annual Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference on June 23, adding: "The fact is, today abortion law in the United States is more aligned with China and North Korea than with Western nations in Europe." Former Vice President Mike Pence has been outspoken against abortion and used the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade to exhort his Republican presidential rivals to take the fight further. "The fact is, today abortion law in the United States is more aligned with China and North Korea than with Western nations in Europe," Pence said June 23.
GOP candidates such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have made the same comparison. But how accurate is it?
Experts say China and North Korea have historically used abortion coercively to curb population growth and retain ethnic purity. U.S. abortion policy permits nothing of the sort. A Pence campaign spokesperson said "based on available reports," North Korea has no abortion restrictions, and China restricts only sex-selective abortions.
Since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision, U.S. abortion policy has been left to the states — and 25 have banned abortion or tightened restrictions. This has created a complex web of laws that lack the homogeneity Pence’s statement suggests.
Pence didn’t say during his address which U.S. state laws he was referring to. But when we asked his presidential campaign, it pointed us to laws in states that don’t restrict abortion access or have restrictions after the point of viability — typically about 24 weeks into pregnancy.
Pence also didn’t specify which European countries he was using in his comparison. Although some western European countries do have stricter restrictions on gestational limits for abortion compared with a number of U.S. states, the comparison isn’t cut and dried; countries differ on limits, requirements, exceptions and access.
Some European countries, such as Germany and Denmark, offer exceptions that many U.S. states lack, including for a woman’s mental health and/or her socioeconomic status if income, housing, or both, pose hardships.
But some nations have other barriers. Germany grants exceptions to abortions after 12 weeks when the mother’s mental health is poor. But it also has a mandatory waiting period and requires patients to seek counseling before they can get abortions. In Italy, where abortion is permitted during a pregnancy’s first 90 days, doctors with religious concerns or other conscientious objections can legally refuse abortion care.
Still, many of these countries have integrated abortion services into their health care systems and fully fund the procedure through public health insurance or other government programs.
The nonprofit Center for Reproductive Rights, which conducts international analyses of abortion policies and advocates for abortion access, told PolitiFact that in U.S. states where abortion remains legal, the laws and practices do resemble those in many Western European countries. These nations include Iceland, the Netherlands and Sweden, along with many U.S. allies outside Europe such as Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
China’s and North Korea’s abortion policies, meanwhile, aren’t clear. We found that the reports supporting Pence’s characterization are outdated. Although both countries have historically allowed abortion later in pregnancy, experts said these policies appear to be shifting.
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