Abortion limit proposals "a trap"

30 June 2005

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) is opposed to the introduction of upper limit abortion legislation as debated today by the British Medical Association conference in Manchester.

John Smeaton, SPUC National Director, said: "The pro-life movement walked into a trap set by the then Conservative government and the pro-abortion lobby in 1990 when most people wrongly think that the upper limit for abortion was lowered. The fact is that it rose to 24 weeks for most abortions, and up to birth in some cases. SPUC is certain that the same sort of danger applies today.

"In any parliamentary debate on abortion, the critical issue is the position of the government - as we discovered in 1990. It is the government which commands public policy and commands a majority in the House of Commons. Their position is made terrifyingly clear in the Department of Health's "Recommended standards for sexual health services" published earlier this year.

"The government's policy document repeatedly presents abortion in the early months as being entirely a matter of choice, and so they clearly want the law changed in this direction. The same document calls for abortion to be available as late as possible whenever required. Furthermore, there's no room for an effective conscientious objection in this terrifying brave new world of conveyor-belt abortion proposed by the government. Patricia Hewitt MP, the Health Secretary, has supported policy that will make the right of conscientious objection meaningless.

"We issue the strongest possible warning to the public who are genuinely concerned about abortion for the very good reason that it hurts women and unborn children. Legislative proposals to lower the upper limit for abortions are a trap to ensnare the pro-life movement in order to legalise a right to abortion in the early months of pregnancy, and to maintain access to abortion up to birth where a baby is disabled and for other reasons.

"It is particularly callous of the government to promote such a policy when they acknowledge in their report the greater psychological impact on women of having an abortion as compared with going to term."