stop promoting abortions, SPUC urges government

WESTMINSTER, 26 October 2004 - On the eve of the anniversary of the
passage of the Abortion Act, the Society for the Protection of Unborn
Children (SPUC) calls upon the Government to take positive steps to
reduce the number of abortions being carried out in the UK.

John Smeaton, SPUC's national director, stated: "After 38 years of
killing under the Abortion Act 1967, the Blair Government continues to
promote abortion, particularly among the young. This year has seen a
14-year-old schoolgirl hitting the headlines after her school arranged a
secret abortion for her which she later regretted, and a mother
beginning a courageous legal battle to prevent underage girls from going
through the ordeal of abortion without parental knowledge.

"The government's answer to this outcry has been to issue guidance
telling doctors that they can continue to perform abortions on underage
girls without parental knowledge or consent. The government is also
funding the pro-abortion Education for Choice organisation, which
promotes abortion to schoolchildren through information packs and
role-plays.

"If the Government were really concerned about abortion, it would stop
selling it as a quick fix to a vulnerable audience. We at SPUC are
setting up a network of opposition to these pro-abortion strategies and
are encouraging parents to write to schools, to ask the school to make
its position on the provision of abortion clear. On the anniversary of
the passage of the Abortion Act, we call upon all our supporters to join
with us in this campaign."

SPUC renewed its call for caution over media reports that David Steel is
in favour of reducing the upper limit for legal abortion. During a short
debate in the House of Lords last July, Lord Steel, the architect of the
1967 Abortion Act, asked whether the UK could consider European models
of abortion law which include abortion on demand up to 12 weeks
gestation. The current Parliament is the most anti-life in over thirty
years and any changes Parliament makes to the Abortion Act are likely to
increase rather than decrease the number of abortions carried out in the
UK.