{"id":248094,"date":"2021-06-28T18:17:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T23:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=248094"},"modified":"2021-06-28T13:43:12","modified_gmt":"2021-06-28T18:43:12","slug":"gibraltar-weakens-pro-life-protections-preborn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/gibraltar-weakens-pro-life-protections-preborn\/","title":{"rendered":"Tragic: Gibraltar weakens pro-life protections for preborn children"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The small island territory of Gibraltar voted Thursday to loosen its restrictions on abortion. According to the New York Times<\/a>, the British territory will now allow abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy if the mother’s physical or mental health is at risk, or later if it is determined that the baby suffers from a severe abnormality. The referendum, which was postponed due to the pandemic, passed<\/a> with 7,656 votes in favor and 4,520 against.<\/p>\n

Until now, Gibraltar had some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe, allowing abortion only if the mother’s life was at risk (though the deliberate killing of a preborn child is actually\u00a0never medically necessary<\/a>). Anyone found violating the law faced life in prison, though there has been no instance of this penalty happening in recent history.<\/p>\n

READ: EU Parliament labels abortion a fundamental right, compares objectors to \u2018flat earthers\u2019<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The debate surrounding the vote was significant, with the Gibraltar Chronicle<\/a> calling it a “campaign that at times was tense and exposed rare but deep divisions in this close-knit community.” Pro-life groups, including the Gibraltar Pro-Life Movement, lobbied against the referendum, running a\u00a0\u201cSave Babies, Vote No\u201d campaign and holding a March for Life on June 15.<\/p>\n