LIFE, the national caring charity, has urged the government to seize the opportunity offered by the new Human Tissue and Embryos (Draft) Bill to make positive changes to Britain’s abortion law. The number of abortions has reached another disturbing new peak with over 193,000 terminations in England and Wales in 2006.
LIFE spokeswoman Michaela Aston said: "This autumn the government will bring forward a new Human Tissue and Embryos (Draft) Bill. This represents the best chance for a genuine and comprehensive parliamentary debate on the topic of abortion in almost twenty years. In particular, MPs should be able to consider in detail all the new research on the possible consequences of abortion for women’s health. One of the other great advances in recent years has been the development of 4-D ultrasound, providing amazing images of unborn children in the womb. This has helped both MPs and the general public to have a clearer idea of what we are talking about when we discuss abortion – not just the disposal of a blob of cells but the end of a real human life."
Ms Aston added that the continuing high rate of abortion demonstrates a great need for the kind of positive and professional caring services offered by LIFE. "We know from experience and from the findings of public opinion surveys that in many cases women do not want abortion, but feel that they have no other choice. There is a real need for constructive solutions to crisis pregnancy, solutions that try to tackle the issues that make their pregnancy problematic, whether they are to do with housing, financial worries or lack of family support. The government should respond to this overwhelming demand by providing much more support to organisations such as LIFE. We provide important practical help for women, promoting healthy, positive solutions. Unless we undertake a thorough reappraisal of our attitude to women in crisis pregnancy, and improve the services we offer them, the abortion rate will continue to rise."
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Life responds to new aborton statistics