In a sidebar feature today, Twitter shared some information about “How abortion laws in the US compare to the rest of the world.” Among the statistics offered:

  • “73 countries permit abortion on request with varying gestational limits”
  • “13 countries permit abortion under a broad range of socioeconomic circumstances”
  • “51 countries permit abortion on the basis of health or therapeutic grounds”

Aside from being rather unclear in its contents, this list excluded some notably illuminating points of international comparison: The United States is one of only seven countries, along with China and North Korea, that permits elective abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. And: Forty-seven out of 50 European countries either don’t allow elective abortion at all or prohibit it after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Perhaps these omissions are because Twitter sourced its data from none other than the Center for Reproductive Rights, one of our country’s foremost abortion-advocacy organizations.