If a baby has a heartbeat, should their life be protected?
This baby has lived 8 weeks in her mother’s womb*. Her heart began beating at 22 days, and has already beaten over 6 million times!
Each year in the UK, we intentionally end the lives of over 250,000 babies in the womb with a heartbeat. Yet there are laws that protect born people from this.
*Dated from fertilisation (gestational age 10 weeks)
What do the public think?
We questioned members of public on the significance of the heartbeat to someone's life, and whether we should have laws to protect people with a heartbeat.
Public opinion polls
We conducted two separate polls, in March - May 2025, on the streets of 12-13 towns and cities around the UK. Each poll got responses from over 1,500 members of the public.
Poll 1 question: If a baby has a heartbeat, should their life be protected?
Poll 2 question: If a baby in the womb has a heartbeat, aside from extreme circumstances, should the law allow us to kill them?
We rephrased the question on the second poll, to
- specify babies in the womb
- include the protection of law
- allow for exceptions for “extreme circumstances” such as rape, disability, life of mother**
**The purpose of these questions was to gauge public opinion. CBR UK does not approve of aborting babies in these exceptions
Poll 1 - Babies protected
If a baby has a heartbeat, should their life be protected?
The results show that of the 1,546 people we polled, 62% said “yes” to protecting babies with heartbeats
Poll 2 - Can we kill babies?
If a baby in the womb has a heartbeat, aside from extreme circumstances, should the law allow us to kill them?
The results show that of the 1,593 people we polled, 59% said “no” to the law allowing us to kill babies with a heartbeat.
Have your say
If you think we should protect babies from the moment of a detectable heartbeat then please sign this petition. The petition is part of an independent campaign to see a heartbeat bill brought into law.