British MPs New Report Addresses Abortion & Life Controversies

As the world is struggling in the ethical dilemma of the Terri Schiavo’s court case, life issues continue to hit the headlines of newspapers. Today, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee released a new report to address the abortion and life issues in the UK.

As the conservative leader Michael Howard has called for a tighter time limit on abortions, a view backed by the Roman Catholic Church, British MPs have once again echoed the need for a review of the abortion laws in Britain.

Currently, women are allowed to abort the child at the very latest 24 weeks into the pregnancy. In July 2004, a series of newly developed ultrasound scans showing vivid pictures of a 12-week-old foetus "walking" in the womb were released. Therefore, abortions taking place up until the 24th week have triggered a huge ethical debate.

The report suggested that the legal time limit for late abortions should be cut from 24 weeks to 20 weeks. The need for an overhaul has also reflected the moral inconsistency of regulations, according to Dr Ian Gibson, the committee chairman.

Scientists are prevented from experiments on embryos older than 14 days, when they consist of around 2,000 cells, he said, yet a foetus can be aborted until 24 weeks.

"There are inconsistencies. It needs a proper appraisal. Bringing down the 24-week limit is only one aspect."

The other highlight of the report concerns the right of the parents who undergo IVF treatment to choose their child’s sex, which is again a difficult ethical issue.

The report has backed the right of parents, saying that there was no "compelling evidence" to prohibit couples undergoing IVF being able to choose to have a girl or boy if that was what they felt was necessary to "balance out" their family.

In response to the report, pro-lifers are particularly outraged at the new recommendation regarding the choice of sex for babies.

Josephine Quintavalle, speaking on behalf of Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE), said, "There is absolutely no way that the public in the United Kingdom is in favour of designer babies, social sex selection, animal-human hybrids, human reproductive cloning, or any other brave new world proposal."

Life, another pro-life group, said the report reflected "the personal agendas of certain members of the Committee and their advisers".