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| Minister grilled on abortion law | |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| A health minister is facing a panel of MPs investigating whether the abortion 24-week limit should be reduced. | |
| The science and technology committee is questioning Dawn Primarolo, who is expected to say she is not persuaded that the limit should be reduced. | |
| The Pro-Life Alliance says medical advances have reduced deaths following extremely premature births and wants the cut-off point lowered to 20 weeks. | The Pro-Life Alliance says medical advances have reduced deaths following extremely premature births and wants the cut-off point lowered to 20 weeks. |
| But the British Medical Association argues the current limit should stay. | But the British Medical Association argues the current limit should stay. |
| The committee is looking at medical advances since the Abortion Act was passed in 1967 - rather than the ethical or moral issues associated with abortion time limits. | The committee is looking at medical advances since the Abortion Act was passed in 1967 - rather than the ethical or moral issues associated with abortion time limits. |
| Religious beliefs | |
| It will also be questioning Fiona Adshead, deputy chief medical officer for England. | It will also be questioning Fiona Adshead, deputy chief medical officer for England. |
| The MPs' inquiry coincides with an apparent rise in the number of doctors who are conscientious objectors and will not recommend abortion on moral grounds. | |
| A woman with an unwanted pregnancy is in crisis - whether she decides to have an abortion, to keep the baby, have an adoption, whatever - that's going to affect her life forever Dr Peter SaundersChristian Medical Fellowship | |
| Dr Evan Harris, a Liberal Democrat committee member and former hospital doctor, said he had no problem with doctors having religious beliefs that affected the way they wish to practice medicine. | |
| But he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "When you are in that position you have a duty to your patient not to allow those personal beliefs to influence the way you deal with them. | |
| "What would be ideal is that doctors with conscientious objections and who simply cannot countenance abortion, not to actually have consultations with women for whom abortion is a serious option. | |
| "Otherwise they are led into the temptation ... of seeking to persuade women not to have abortions, trying to talk them out of it, on the basis of their own personal beliefs ... | |
| "You can't put the woman's best interests first if you are following your own Christian crusade," he said. | |
| 'Used as contraception' | |
| However, Dr Peter Saunders, general secretary of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said it was not only doctors with religious beliefs who preferred not to carry out abortions. | |
| He said one in five doctors will not refer patients for the procedure. | |
| "A woman with an unwanted pregnancy is in crisis - whether she decides to have an abortion, to keep the baby, have an adoption, whatever - that's going to affect her life forever," he told Today. | |
| Lord Steel, the architect of the 1967 Abortion Act, said too many abortions were taking place and the procedure was now being used as a form of contraception. | |
| He told The Guardian he was not persuaded that the 24-week limit should be cut, but called for better sex education and a debate on sexual morality to bring the numbers down. | |
| Survival chances | |
| Catholic and Church of England leaders have called for a reassessment of abortion's role in society, as the 40th anniversary of the Act is marked. | |
| In an open letter Cardinals Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and Keith O'Brien accepted that abortion will not be abolished, but stressed that it "robbed everyone of their future". | |
| The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, warned that abortion was increasingly regarded as normal, rather than as a procedure of last resort. | |
| According to the Department of Health, 193,000 abortions happened in England and Wales last year, of which 89% were performed in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. | According to the Department of Health, 193,000 abortions happened in England and Wales last year, of which 89% were performed in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. |
| The Pro-Life Alliance says babies born at 24 weeks now have a much better chance of survival than when the Abortion Act was passed. | The Pro-Life Alliance says babies born at 24 weeks now have a much better chance of survival than when the Abortion Act was passed. |
| But the BMA says that, despite "very considerable" scientific advances, the number of babies born at 24 weeks and surviving is still "extremely small". | But the BMA says that, despite "very considerable" scientific advances, the number of babies born at 24 weeks and surviving is still "extremely small". |
| The issue of abortion will be aired again during debate on the Human Tissue and Embryos Bill next month. | The issue of abortion will be aired again during debate on the Human Tissue and Embryos Bill next month. |
| When the Abortion Act was first passed the normal time limit for termination was 28 weeks, but this was lowered to 24 in 1990. | When the Abortion Act was first passed the normal time limit for termination was 28 weeks, but this was lowered to 24 in 1990. |