Scotland: The First Country to Allow Abortion Until the Baby Is Born

(ZENIT News / Edinburgh, 09.10.2026).- Scotland’s abortion debate has entered a new and deeply controversial phase after an expert group convened by the country’s devolved government proposed changes that, according to the Scottish Catholic bishops, could dismantle some of the remaining legal protections for unborn children.

The recommendations come at a time when abortion numbers in Scotland have risen sharply. The latest government figures recorded almost 18,800 abortions, representing an increase of 55% since 2016. Against that backdrop, the proposed reform has prompted Bishop John Keenan, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, to urge the government not to expand the existing law but instead to reconsider a legal framework that he believes fails to provide adequate protection for both mothers and their unborn children.

Under the current system described in the report, abortion is generally available up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, while later abortions can be authorised when two doctors decide that the legal conditions are met. The expert group’s proposals have raised fears among pro-life campaigners and Catholic leaders that the law could move towards allowing abortion with virtually no meaningful gestational limit.

For Bishop Keenan, the debate cannot be reduced to a question of medical procedure or individual autonomy alone. “Every unborn child is a unique human life deserving protection,” he said, while insisting that mothers should receive support in ways that safeguard both their dignity and that of their children.

One recommendation has generated particular alarm: the suggestion that future legislation should contain no specific reference to sex-selective abortion. Critics fear that removing such safeguards could make it easier for unborn children to be targeted because they are male or female.

The concern exposes an uncomfortable contradiction at the heart of the international abortion debate. Sex discrimination against women is widely condemned, yet abortion chosen precisely because an unborn child is a girl has been documented as a serious concern in several parts of the world. For the Scottish bishops, equality cannot coherently mean defending women while leaving unborn girls without protection because of their sex.

The Scottish controversy is also unfolding within a wider European political climate in which abortion is increasingly presented not simply as something permitted under certain circumstances, but as a positive and fundamental right. European institutions and political movements have pushed for stronger recognition of abortion across the continent, while disputes have also emerged over whether organisations defending pro-life positions should continue to receive public funding.

That broader shift is precisely why the Scottish proposals have attracted attention beyond the country itself. The argument is no longer merely about where a particular legal limit should be placed. It concerns a more fundamental question: whether any stage of unborn human life should remain protected by law.

The Catholic Church’s response seeks to place the unborn child and the mother together rather than in opposition. Protecting human life, Bishop Keenan argues, must be accompanied by practical and social support for women, particularly those facing difficult pregnancies. A society committed to human dignity should not force mothers to choose between abandonment and abortion.

Scotland now faces a consequential decision. Its government can accept recommendations that critics believe would take the country towards abortion until birth, or it can preserve—and potentially strengthen—the remaining protections for unborn children while developing more substantial support for women in crisis.

For the Scottish bishops, the direction is clear: a modern society should not measure compassion by how completely it removes the unborn from legal protection, but by how effectively it protects vulnerable human life and supports mothers when they need help most.

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