Leading pro-life group The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has issued a warning against a bill proposed by Nadine Dorries MP which claims to seek to reduce the upper time limit for abortions.

Anthony Ozimic, SPUC political secretary, said: "Mrs Dorries, in a letter to MPs, states that the upper time-limit on abortions is 24 weeks. Not only is this statement misleading - the upper limit is birth - but the particular 24 week limit which appears in the Abortion Act 1967 only applies to abortions done on social grounds.

"This means that Mrs Dorries's bill will mean abandoning disabled babies, who will still be allowed to be killed up to birth. Such lethal discrimination is entirely unacceptable in a civilised society."

SPUC also expressed its grave concern over a provision in Mrs Dorries' bill which would 'fast-track' abortions after final consent has been given. It warned that this provision may mean that even more resources will be spent on killing the unborn.

The charity also criticised Mrs Dorries' attack on the pro-life movement after she accused it of having "ghettoised the arguments", "stifled debate", "halted progress" and "used an emotional line of reasoning" - all of which SPUC said was "simply ill-informed".

SPUC has used scientific evidence to demonstrate the humanity of the unborn child and has deepened the discussion through the presentation of medico-legal research, it said.

Ozimic added, "It should be noted that Mrs Dorries has said that she 'fully endorse[s] a woman's right to choose'."

SPUC - the world's first pro-life lobbying and educational organisation, founded in 1967 - appealed to the UN earlier this month to include protection for the unborn child in the Secretary General's Study on Violence Against Children, saying that much of the abuse against children in the world today was "hidden".

The charity criticised the document for its failure to include measures that would protect unborn children and called on the UN to issue a global ban on abortion.