Parliamentary Committee Accused of Dodging Ethics in Abortion Inquiry

The decision by the Science and Technology Committee of the House of Parliament not to consider the ethical and moral issues surrounding the upper limit for abortions has been criticised by the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship (LCF) and religious groups.

The LCF complained that the committee had conducted its inquiry over the summer months whilst Parliament is not sitting, and that submissions had been limited to a maximum of 3,000 words "so that detailed arguments cannot be made".

The group of Christian lawyers accused the committee of "failing to consider properly what is a very sensitive, emotive and fundamentally 'moral' issue".

The committee opened its inquiry in the run up to the 40th anniversary of the Abortion Act and amid calls from many medics and pro-life groups to reduce the number of weeks in which a woman may have an abortion under the Act, and not face prosecution provided the criteria is met.

Advances in paediatrics over the past 40 years and a change in the mood of public opinion had led politicians on all sides of the House of Commons to consider calling for a reduction in the time limit from the current 24 weeks.

However, the LCF has called into question the committee's procedures. Andrea Minichiello Williams, public policy officer at LCF said: "This inquiry was done quickly over the summer months so few people knew about it ."

She added that the 3,000 word limit on submissions was "certainly not enough to look in detail at the issues posed".

The committee also came under fire for stating that it would not be considering the ethical and moral issues surrounding the upper time limit for abortions.

"The idea that any meaningful inquiry into abortion law can be done whilst ignoring ethical and moral issues is incomprehensible, and ignores the fact that any conclusions or views the committee come to will necessarily be coloured by their own ethical and moral judgements," she said.

"It also ignores the fact that abortion is primarily a moral issue - both for those for and those opposed to it."