David Cameron has reiterated to the Catholic Herald that he feels the abortion limit should be reduced to 22 or 20 weeks. (http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/f0000552.shtml).
The 1967 Abortion Act allowed abortions up to 28 weeks of pregnancy, but in 1990 this was reduced to 24 weeks because medical advances meant that babies were surviving at that age. In 2008, Parliament refused by 71 votes to reduce this further, despite opposition from many MPs including David Cameron who wished to reduce it to 20 weeks. He has now repeated that he feels this time limit should be reduced and the legislation reviewed. However, he stresses that this is a matter of conscience and says Conservative MPs would be given a free vote on the issue.
In 2008 he also said it would "practical and sensible" to abolish the requirement of the consent of two doctors before an abortion can go ahead. This is effectively to provide for abortion on demand in the early stages of pregnancy.
The main reason given for the reduction is the continuing reduction in the survival ages of premature babies. At the time of the 2008 vote, former nurse Nadine Dorries, now MP for Mid-Bedfordshire, told fellow MPs how she had held a foetus that gasped for breath and took seven minutes to die after a botched abortion. Ms Dorries said: ‘What I thought we were committing that day was murder.’
The Government says it has “no plans to change the laws on abortion”.
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