Ann Furedi, the chief executive of Britain's biggest abortion provider, BPAS, has called for abortion to be decriminalised, saying that abortion is a "back-up to our chosen method of birth-control."
Under current law, abortion remains a criminal offence. However, the Abortion Act of 1967 allows abortion if certain criteria are met. The most frequently cited of these is to prevent 'grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman'. In spite of the explicit reference to 'grave permanent injury', around 98% of the nearly 200,000 abortions that take place each year are carried out under this criterion.
'Abortion on request'
In a startling article in the Independent, Ms Furedi concedes that current practice represents a very liberal reading of the strict criteria laid down by Parliament, saying:
"Despite being one of the most restrictive laws in the developed world on paper, it is one of the most liberal in the way that it can be interpreted. Although the Act does not formally permit ... abortion on request, that is close to what it allows in practice."
The comments reflect those made by Ms Furedi during a recent event in Parliament at which she was reported to have asked "If we went on a work to rule and took this legislation and implemented it in the most conservative way, what would the consequences be, and the cost to women?"
Ms Furedi has argued for nurse-led abortion, the ability for women to conduct medical abortion at home and the abolition of the need for two doctors to sign abortion forms. She has also claimed that abortion on the basis of gender is not illegal.
'Chilling'
In response, Andrea Williams said: “These comments from Ann Furedi are simply chilling. Abortion is not simply another ‘form of medical treatment’ as she argues. Abortion has serious consequences for the mother and deadly consequences for the child. It has done untold damage to countless numbers of women, not to mention killing around 8 million babies since the Abortion Act was passed in 1967.
“Ms Furedi makes abortion out to be a clean and convenient ‘solution’ when it is in fact a barbaric, crude and invasive practice which haunts many women for years to come.
“She admits that abortion is practically available on demand. Many people would be horrified to know that this is the case. Her admission shows that abortion laws should be tightened, not scrapped.”
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