While the fight for life has made major gains here in the United States, in other parts of the West, “free” citizens face being forced into abortions by the state for their own “health.”

In the U.K., doctors on behalf of the National Healthcare Service (NHS) have petitioned a judge (Mrs. Justice Lieven) to give them permission to perform an abortion on a young mentally ill woman.

The woman (her name has been withheld for legal reasons) is in her 20’s and is 22 weeks pregnant. Specialists claim she has a ‘moderately severe’ learning disorder and a ‘mood disorder’, saying she would not have the mental capacity to recover properly from giving birth.

The justification for forced abortion took an even creepier turn with NHS lawyers claiming that not only would it be difficult for the woman to recover physically but it would be harder on her mental state to experience separation from her baby than it would to simply terminate the life. From the Daily Mail:

Barrister Fiona Paterson, who is leading the trust’s legal team, told Mrs Justice Lieven that specialists thought a termination would be in the woman’s best interests.

She said the baby might be taken into council care and said the woman would find the loss of pregnancy easier to recover from than separation from her child.

‘(Her) treating clinicians consider that on balance, a termination is in her best interests,’ she said, in a written case outline.

‘In broad terms (they) believe that as a result of her learning disabilities, (she) would find labour very difficult to tolerate and the recovery from a Caesarean section very challenging.

‘(They) consider that (she) is likely to find the loss of a pregnancy easier to recover from than separation from the baby if he or she is taken into care.

Let’s ponder this argument for one moment. The government of one of the wealthiest, most influential ‘free’ nations in the world thinks it would be better for a mother to kill her baby before it’s born rather than suffer the emotional trauma of the baby possibly being removed from her care and placed in fostering.

What is worse, the woman’s mother has begged the NHS to allow her daughter to carry the child to term saying she would raise the baby herself. She also has said forcing her daughter into abortion would violate her religious beliefs, both as a Roman Catholic and a member of the Nigerian Igbo community.

That last identifier is enough to make one’s ears prick up. At this very moment, the United Kingdom government is deciding whether or not they will let a Black woman give birth to her Black child, or if they will eliminate yet another minority life before it begins.

Chilling.

The woman’s lawyers claim the NHS has not met the standard of proof to force an abortion.

Barrister Susanna Rickard, who is leading the woman’s legal team, said abortion did not appear to be in her best interests.

Barrister John McKendrick QC, who is leading the woman’s mother’s legal team, suggested that doctors were underestimating the woman’s abilities.

‘It is accepted that (the woman) lacks capacity to conduct these proceedings and to make a decision in respect of whether or not to consent to a termination and associated ancillary treatment,’ he told the judge in a written case outline.

‘That being said, (her mother) considers that the applicant has underestimated (her) ability and understanding, and that more weight should be place on her wishes and feelings.’

He added: ‘Termination is not in (the woman’s) best interests.’

Mr McKendrick said the judge had ‘no proper evidence’ to show that allowing the pregnancy to continue would put the woman’s life or long-term health at grave risk.

‘The applicants have failed to carry out a proper best interests analysis,’ he said.

‘Their evidence is premised on a narrow clinical view. The application must be dismissed,’ he added.

While the NHS “bosses” – as they’re called…creepily – say they don’t want the woman to suffer the trauma of becoming a mother they have given no thought to what the trauma of suddenly being forced to abort her growing child might do. She’s already 22 weeks pregnant. At 22 weeks a baby is already nearly fully developed and just growing. Mom is showing quite prominently.

At this point in her pregnancy, the woman in question will have a significant “baby bump.” She’ll be feeling movement, kicks, perhaps even hiccups. She will be very much aware of the life inside her. The powers that be at the NHS must be monsters or delusional to believe a woman carrying a baby at that stage of development would not be severely traumatized by its sudden and violent removal.

It is almost too much to dwell on.

The U.K. is no stranger to such controversy. The NHS has a terrifying record when it comes to the lives of children. Little Alfie Evans died while legally chained to the NHS after British courts not only denied the sick child continuing life support but denied his parents the right to take him to another country for treatment at their own cost. They weren’t even allowed to take Alfie with them so he could die at home.

The next time a European sounds perplexed at our ongoing division over abortion in this country, remind them that this is what happens when you stop fighting for life. The norm shifts and suddenly reasonable people start thinking it is perfectly fine for a government to decide who can and cannot have children.

Terrifying.