British Prime Minister Theresa May has pro-life voting record (well, sort of)

LONDON (Christian Examiner) – Theresa May, the next prime minister of the United Kingdom, is far from a pro-life champion, but her views on abortion are nevertheless more conservative than the country's current law is – and she has voted for pro-life bills.

May is set to become prime minister this week following the resignation of David Cameron, the Conservative Party leader who announced he would step down following the Brexit vote. May was elected leader of the party Monday.

May is largely a social liberal, supporting gay marriage and early-term abortion rights, but in 2012 she made headlines as Home Secretary when she said she believed the country's legal limit on abortion should be cut from 24 to 20 weeks, due to advances in science that allow premature babies born at 24 weeks to survive.

Unlike the United States – where abortion is essentially legal through any week of pregnancy – abortion in the UK is limited to 24 weeks.

"I think there is scope for some reduction," May told BBC Radio 4. "My personal view is a reduction to 20 weeks."

But she added at the time that the government – then headed by Cameron -- "has no plans to replace the limit."

In 2008 May voted for a bill in Parliament that would have lowered the limit to 22 weeks. It was the first significant vote on abortion in 18 years and was defeated.

She has described herself as someone who is pro-choice but who keeps "an eye on scientific progress which makes fetuses viable earlier."