How Many Babies Are Surviving Late-Term Abortions in Ireland?

08.07.2025

In Alberta, Canada – a province with a population similar to the Republic of Ireland – new figures reveal that one in four babies in late-term abortions are surviving the procedure but are left to die without care. Out of 133 late-term abortions there in 2024, 33 babies were born alive and then abandoned.

These children, many between 21 and 24 weeks, are living proof that the claim “abortion survivors are a myth” is simply not true. Around the world, courageous women like Melissa Ohden and Claire Culwell have shared their stories of surviving abortion and being rescued by compassionate medical staff. Both women have visited Ireland to remind us of the humanity of every child.

What about Ireland?

Since our laws changed in 2019, babies have also survived late-term abortions here, as documented in research published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology by UCC researchers. Yet there is no clear protocol in place to protect these babies’ lives or provide them with life-saving care.

How many children have survived abortion here, only to be left without help? And why is the Irish Government unwilling to ensure these children receive the care they deserve?

These are uncomfortable questions, but they demand answers from those who speak of compassion and rights while ignoring the most vulnerable in our hospitals.

Every baby deserves care, even when the law says otherwise.