Lib Dem MP urges abortion debate

Women may not realise they are pregnant immediately

A senior Liberal Democrat MP has called for a full parliamentary debate and inquiry into the rules over abortion.

Evan Harris says it is 16 years since the issue was properly considered and the time to revisit it is long overdue.

There have been calls to cut the legal limit from 24 weeks, a proposal recently voted down by the British Medical Association.

But Public Health Minister Caroline Flint says the government has no plans to review the current laws.

Dr Harris, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, raised the matter during a short debate in Westminster Hall.

'Survival' rate

He said in "general terms" he supported the existing laws governing abortion on the basis of foetal viability.

But he argued: "Sixteen years is far too long a time for Parliament not to vote on the issue let alone debate it."

The Abortion Act, governing abortions in England, Scotland and Wales, became law in 1967 following the introduction of a private members' bill by David Steel MP, who went on to lead the Liberal Party.

You talk about a foetus, but in there end there is a baby there Jim Dobbin Labour MP

The law was updated via the Human Embryology and Human Fertilisation Act 1990, which was brought in primarily to control new infertility treatments and to monitor experiments on embryos.

A section of the Act also lowered the legal time limit for abortions from 28 to 24 weeks, which is now the accepted point at which a foetus is "viable".

But Dr Harris said: "If the time limit of 24 weeks is reduced, will this impact adversely on some women?"

He said it was not his experience that women seeking late terminations did so lightly or for trivial reasons.

'Too many' abortions

And there was a case for making it easier for women to gain access to abortions in the first-trimester of pregnancy, he said.

There was also a "strong argument" for promoting medical abortions - involving use of the so-called abortion pill at home - where it was shown to be safe, he said.

"I think it is now time for the government to back a parliamentary inquiry and then allow time for this issue to be debated," he added.

Labour's Jim Dobbin, chairman of the all-party Pro-Life group, said there were "far too many abortions" being performed in the UK at present.

He said women considering having an abortion should be fully informed about the consequences of their decision.

Numbers

"You talk about a foetus, but in there end there is a baby there. There's a child there and I think that must not be forgotten," he said.

Minister Ms Flint said the proportion of abortions carried out at over 20 weeks gestation was 1.6% of residents living in England and Wales in 2003.

Some 87% were carried out under 13 weeks, and of these 58% were under 10 weeks.

She argued that neither the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists nor the BMA considered that the abortion time limits need to be changed and it was because of that, "the government has no plans to review" them.