The 27th April marked the 40th anniversary of the coming into force of the 1967 Abortion Act that led to the saving of thousands of women’s lives. The Act allowed women in England, Wales and Scotland access to safe abortion on the NHS in a government approved hospital when 2 doctors agreed to the procedure within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. The 1967 Abortion Act does not cover Northern Ireland. Abortion is only legal in Northern Ireland in exceptional circumstances and current guidance is unclear and provision is at times determined by the moral and religious views of the individual health care professional. Consequently the vast majority of women cannot access abortion services in Northern Ireland and have to travel to Britain where they have to pay hundreds of pounds for private abortions. This impacts against a whole section of the female working class and was a ‘trade off’ in 1967 to MPs in Northern Ireland so the bill would pass through Parliament. This is totally unacceptable and must be corrected in the present bills going through parliament, which will cover the whole of the United Kingdom. 

In recent years the issue of late abortions has become the subject of intense media and policy interest. Fuelled by the development of 4D ultrasound images of fetuses ‘smiling’ and ‘walking in the womb’ and the increasing emotive nature of the argument against abortion, concerns have been raised about the ethics of continuing to allow abortion up to 24 weeks. Although 89% of abortions take place in the first 13 weeks, women continue to need access to abortion services later in pregnancy. In some areas lack of sufficient NHS provision or lack of timely access to service continue to create delays of 6 to 8 weeks, forcing women to have a late abortion or raise the hundreds of pounds to pay independent private sector fees, which could, in itself, cause further delays.

The decision to have an abortion is one which women never take lightly, particularly when the decision has to be made later in the pregnancy. Less that 2% of abortions take place after 20 weeks and women who face exceptional and very difficult circumstances need them. These women need help and support not moralising over by the medical profession and society.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill currently in parliament is subject to amendments to reduce the time limit from 24 to 20 weeks. Some religiously driven MPs are trying to reduce this to 12 weeks and to impose a ‘cooling off’ period and compulsory counselling. These measures will have appalling consequences for women seeking abortion and assume women are not capable of making their own decisions about something so important. It has been reported that there will be another ‘trade off’ similar to that in 1967 to prevent the bill’s delay in passing through parliament. The idea of a ‘trade off’, which would support lowering the time limit, is totally unacceptable to anyone who supports the women’s right to choose.

Opinion polls show 83% of people support the right of women to choose. A woman is in the best position to weigh up all the factors and make the decision about her own pregnancy. Decisions about abortion are never taken lightly by anyone involved. Contrary to recent press coverage there has been no scientific breakthroughs that give cause for a reduction of the current time limit. During 2007 the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee conducted an inquiry into the scientific developments related to the Abortion Act 1967. After considering a wealth of evidence from a variety of expert organisations, including the British Association of Perinatal Medicine, the committee concluded that there had not been any significant change in fetal viability which would require the current time limit to be reduced. Yet religious bigots and mainly male MPs want to restrict a women’s legal right to abortion leaving some women in desperate circumstances, either to cope with an unwanted pregnancy or to potentially seek an unsafe back street abortion. In 1967 parliament decided these alternatives were unacceptable and they are still not acceptable in 2008. We must not turn the clock back by criminalising women who find themselves in the position of needing an abortion. We must join the lobby of parliament on the 7th May to protect the right to choose and not allow religious bigotry to put women back to the unsafe abortions of the pre 1967 Abortion Act where thousands of women put their health and even their lives in danger.

National Loby of Parliament and Public Meeting - Defend abortion rights