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SPUC wary of abortion limit reduction proposals
London, 13 March 2005 - The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has expressed itself as 'very wary' of proposals, reportedly backed by Mr Michael Howard, the leader of the Conservative Party, to reduce the time limit for some abortions from 24 weeks to 20.
Paul Tully, SPUC General Secretary, said: "Any reduction in the number of abortions would be welcome. However, reducing time limits doesn't necessarily mean reducing abortions. The last time MPs thought they had a chance to reduce the time limit, they ended up widening the law, including the legalisation of abortion up to birth of disabled babies and other cases too. Abortions in Britain have continued to rise to record levels since. One must consider carefully what effect any given proposal will have.
"Last year Lord [David] Steel
suggested a similar adjustment in the time limit, but also proposed making
abortion more readily available in the early months of pregnancy - when
the vast majority of abortions already occur. This proposal
was in fact a Trojan horse designed to enshrine a right to abortion for the
first time in British law. Enshrining abortion as a fundamental
legal and human right is the number one goal of the pro-abortion lobby.
"At the forthcoming election, voters need to establish the commitment of
their individual candidates, rather than the parties, on these
issues. All the main parties claim to allow a free vote on the
abortion, the question is: which candidates commit themselves to vote
against killing unborn babies."
Mr Howard's view was reported by the BBC as having appeared in Cosmopolitan magazine.
SPUC commented on previous proposals:
