NIGEL Farage has said it is "utterly ludicrous" to allow abortion up to 24 weeks with the law "totally out of date".
Legally in Scotland, England and Wales, women can have an abortion up to week 24 of a pregnancy, with the agreement of two doctors.
The Reform UK leader took the stance at a press conference in London which was aired live by national broadcasters.
Farage said: "I am pro-choice, but I think it's ludicrous, utterly ludicrous that we can allow abortion up to 24 weeks.
"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 I believe it is totally out of date."
He said he would leave it up to people to "agree with that or disagree with that", adding: "I think our current situation on this is irrational."
Labour MP Stella Creasy shared the clip of Farage on Twitter/X, writing: "We have been warning you about this man and his links to American anti-abortion campaigners. Now the mask is slipping about what he would do the only way to protect abortion access is to make it a human right.
"Ask your MP to co-sign NC17 to the policing bill now."
Creasy was referencing an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill she has lodged to not only decriminalise abortion but to “lock in” the right of someone to have one and protect those who help them.
Creasy said the law must be changed so that “the right to choose is a human right”, ensuring no repeat of “such awful cases and victimisation of vulnerable women again”.
Another amendment on decriminalisation is said to have the support of more than 60 cross-party MPs and backers hope for a vote on it as early as next month.
The amendment would not cover Scotland, where a group is currently undertaking work to review the law as it stands here.
Last month, Scotland’s women’s health minister, Jenni Minto, said she was “disappointed” that some still have to travel to England for late-term abortions, amid concerns that women in Scotland can only have a termination after 20 weeks in cases where there is either a foetal abnormality or the woman’s life is at risk.
Louise McCudden, from provider MSI Reproductive Choices, said: “No-one should face criminal prosecution for ending their own pregnancy. Our Victorian abortion laws are not only outdated, but inconsistent, with abortion now decriminalised in Northern Ireland but not in England, Wales, or Scotland.
“As one of the world’s largest abortion providers, we’re deeply concerned to see so many women face prosecution, even jail, in Britain.”
