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A 4D scan of a 24-week-old baby in the womb. (Requires Flash 7+).
Introduction
27 October 2007 marks the 40th anniversary of Parliament passing the Abortion Act, which legalised abortion. The law came into force on 27 April 1968.
In 1966, when Parliament was debating the Bill, David Steel (then an MP and an architect of the abortion law) said: "[It is] not the intention of the promoters of the Bill to leave a wide open door for abortion on request."1
Yet since the Act became law, 6.7 million abortions have been carried out in Great Britain - 98% of which were for 'social' reasons.
David Steel, now Lord Steel, has told The Guardian 
that abortion is being used as a form of contraception in Britain and admits he never anticipated "anything like" the current number of terminations when leading the campaign to legalise abortion.2
The current law
In England, Scotland and Wales, abortion is allowed up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. The consent of two doctors is required.
Abortion up to birth is lawful when the mother's life is at risk, or where the unborn child has a serious handicap (however, 'serious handicap' has been taken to include an abnormality such as a cleft palate).
Abortion is unlawful in Northern Ireland, except for where the mother's life is at risk.
David (now Lord) Steel was an architect of the 1967 Act.
Abortion numbers since 1967
There have been 6.7 million abortions in Great Britain since 1967. According to Government figures given in 2006, of the 5.3 million abortions to residents of England and Wales:
- 0.4% were because of risk to the mother's life.
- 1.3% were because of foetal handicap.3
- Over 98% were for social reasons.
One in five recorded pregnancies in England and Wales ends in abortion.4
The morning-after pill
The widespread availability of the morning-after pill, which can act to destroy an embryo by stopping it implanting in the womb, means the number of abortions in Britain may be much higher than official figures show.5
Read The Christian Institute's book on the morning-after pill for more information about this drug.
Reducing the 24 week limit?
A growing number of babies born after 20 weeks are surviving outside the womb. There have been calls for the 24 week abortion limit to be reduced to 20 weeks or lower.
However, there are also calls to make abortion under 20 weeks even easier. The vast majority of abortions take place early in a pregnancy. In 2006 over 89% of abortions were carried out within the first 13 weeks.6
The consequences for women
Many women who have abortions later deeply regret doing so and experience psychological problems. A recent medical study showed women who had undergone abortion facing twice the risk of mental health problems, three times the risk of major depressive illness and four times the risk of thinking about suicide as women who had carried their pregnancy to birth.7 For many the decision to have an abortion is made under pressure and with little time for careful thought. Those who pressurise women in this way are morally responsible.
One woman's story
One woman told the BBC : "I went to the British Pregnancy Advice Service for counselling. I asked if at ten weeks it was a baby and they said, 'No, it's just cells.' I felt like it wasn't a baby and that was my get-out clause; I wasn't doing anything wrong.
Afterwards I was emotionally numb and although I didn't have an emotional breakdown, I became anorexic. I was promiscuous for some time. But at the time I didn't think it had anything to do with the abortion."
[After the failed abortion of a second child]: "When I saw that baby with its heart beating, I knew that nine years ago I had destroyed a baby... I realised that I had been reacting out of fear and not really thinking. I was in denial: 'It wasn't really a baby but cells.'
Women deserve more than abortion in a crisis. There are other options, why should the death of a baby be the only answer?"8
- 1 Northern Ireland Assembly, Official Report, 20 June 2000, 2.00pm
- 2 The Guardian, 24 October 2007 see http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2197926,00.html
- 3 House of Commons, Hansard, 8 November 2006, col.1792wa
- 4 Health Statistics Quarterly, Office for National Statistics, no.34, 2007, page 63, Table 4.1
- 5 The Government does not collect statistics on the number of embryos destroyed at the age of a few days old by drugs such as the morning-after pill.
- 6 Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2006, Department of Health, 2007, Table 7a
- 7 Fergusson, D M, Horwood, L J and Ridder, E M, 'Abortion in young women and subsequent mental health', Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47 (1), 2006, page 20
- 8 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7059122.stm as at 25 October 2006
The morning-after pill: uncovering the truth