SPUC Fears Easing of Abortion Laws

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children fears that Britain's abortion laws will be eased following a vote by the British Medical Association earlier in the week to press the Government to relax current restrictions on abortion, and the appointment of Alan Johnson as the new Health Secretary.

At the annual meeting of the BMA in Torquay this week, doctors voted 67 per cent in favour of removing the requirement for women to have the signatures of two doctors to approve their termination in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. Late abortions would still require two signatures, BMA members agreed.

If the Government supports the BMA's call for an ease of restrictions, it could soon be much easier for a woman to have an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Pro-life advocates warn, however, that easy access to early abortions is behind the alarming rise in the number of abortions in England and Wales, which it was last week revealed had broken previous records on the number of women opting for the procedure.

Paul Tully, General Secretary of the SPUC, urged new Prime Minister Gordon Brown to "end the Labour Government's policy of rushing women as quickly as possible through the abortion mill in its frenzy to cut waiting times".

"He should also end the policy of promoting secret abortions on teenagers without telling their parents, and he should stop the counter-productive sex education programmes that the pro-abortion lobby promotes widely," Tully added.

On Mr Johnson's appointment as the new Health Secretary, the SPUC said it feared that he would support wider provision of abortion, having signed two pro-abortion parliamentary motions since becoming an MP in 1997.

Anthony Ozimic, SPUC political secretary, commented: "We fear that, if abortion is introduced into the debate when the Government's draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill comes before Parliament, the Government will give at least tacit support to amendments to extend abortion provision.

"Whether or not the government grants a free vote to backbench MPs, past parliamentary experience proves that signals of the Government's opinion heavily influences the way backbench MPs vote.

"Pro-life parliamentarians should therefore not attempt to open up the abortion law on the floor of Parliament whilst a government-backed pro-abortion majority holds sway, lest there be a repeat of the 1990 defeat of the pro-life lobby."