Abortion: Parliament has lost touch with public opinion

There have been almost 7 million abortions in Britain since 1967; now 200,000 a year and 600 per day. But the tide of public opinion against late abortions has turned.

Two out of three people, including three out of four women, and two out of three doctors have signalled their support for a lowering of the 24 week upper limit. This change has come about as a result of advances in neonatal care and our growing understanding of the humanity of the baby in the womb, coupled with the realisation that Britain is significantly out of step with the European average of 13 weeks.

By ignoring this change in public mood Parliament has demonstrated that it is seriously out of touch with the opinion of the British people on this issue.

That this refusal to lower the limit was led the Prime Minister and his Health Ministers, and involved a three line whip recalling government MPs to Westminster, shows that the government is not listening and is prepared to run roughshod over public opinion and put party politics above the health of women and their unborn children.

We commend those MPs who worked so hard to bring about change against such determined opposition and we will continue to work for further reform of the Abortion Law for the benefit of both women and their babies.

We seek an end to discriminatory abortion for disabled babies, and would like to introduce a charter of consent, so that women with unplanned pregnancies have the time, space, information and support necessary to make a fully informed choice.

This vote provides us with much more data on where individual MPs stand on this issue. There are many marginal seats nationally, across the political divide, and we will ensure the votes of our million supporters count positively in forthcoming elections. We urge Parliament to keep this matter under regular review.

For more information, go to www.aliveandkickingcampaign.org