Ending the Years of Silence on Abortion
Yesterday We Spoke Truth
On Behalf of Women and the Unborn
Saturday 27th October marked the 40th Anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act in this country. This event was marked by Christians gathering from all over the country to speak out on behalf of the unborn and women who find themselves with unplanned pregnancies.
During the past week the Science and Technology Committee have heard more evidence about scientific developments regarding abortion. Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said there was no justification for lowering the age limit as the medical consensus showed that the survival of severely premature babies had not improved. This was despite findings that an increasing amount of babies at 22 and 23 weeks are surviving thanks to huge improvements in neonatal care.
Praise God that pro life groups have attracted considerable media attention and have had the opportunity to stand up for the unborn child and for the care of women. Please pray that continued media coverage over the weekend would portray the truth about the unborn child. Please pray that the government would think about the fact that more and more babies are being aborted each year and that changes to the law must be made.
Click below to read newspaper articles, listen to radio interviews and view television footage.
All the latest newspaper articles on the timeforchange website
http://www.timeforchange.org.uk/news/
Radio and television coverage
http://www.ccfon.org/ccfontv.php
Science and Technology Committee:
Abortion Consultation
Parliament is currently considering possible reforms to abortion law in light of scientific developments in recent years. There are calls from pro choice and pro life groups to overhaul current legislation so the Government have to decide whether there are significant developments which would merit changes to the law.
Pro abortion groups want:
to keep the 24-week upper limit for abortions;
abortion on demand in the first three months of a pregnancy;
to remove the need for two doctors to agree to an abortion;
nurses to be allowed to perform medical abortions.
Pro life groups want:
a lowering of the upper limit for abortions ;
women to be helped and made more aware of the damaging physical, psychological and emotional effects of abortion.
The Science and Technology Committee have now published all the written submissions they received on the scientific developments relating to abortion.
Please follow the links below to read the submissions, including the submission from the LCF.
Links
Written submissions to the Science and Technology Committee
LCF Submission to the Science and Technology Committee
http://www.lawcf.org/index.asp?page=LCF+Response+to+Abortion+Consultation
The Committee has heard evidence from a number of pro choice doctors and neonatal specialists who did not see any compelling reasons for lowering the upper limit. Some doctors discredited findings about the age at which a baby can feel pain. Others defended the woman’s right to have an abortion rather than continuing an unwanted pregnancy. Please pray that the action we take at the weekend will make these doctors aware that pregnant women have a human being growing inside them, created by God with a right to life.
Despite this we must thank God for the faithful evidence given by Peter Saunders from the Christian Medical Fellowship, and Professor John Wyatt and Dr Chris Richards. Please pray that God would use the evidence given to prompt the government to tighten current laws and make it more difficult for woman to have an abortion. Professor Patricia Casey also gave excellent evidence about the proven link between having an abortion and mental illness.
You can watch the evidence by clicking on the links below.
Links
Watch the evidence sessions
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Player/index.aspx?Encoding=7422
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Player/index.aspx?Encoding=7447
Attacks on religious belief about abortion
Dr Evan Harris, a Lib Dem MP, attacked CMF members who were giving evidence, by commenting that anything they say would be affected by their religious beliefs. He thought that beliefs about abortion would taint the discussion and could lead to a moral and ethical arguments being put forward. Dr Trevor Stammers from the CMF replied to his comments in a letter published in The Guardian.
Follow the link below to read Evan Harris’ comments and letters written in response.
Links
Evan Harris discredits contributions based on religious belief
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/oct/15/sciencenews.medicineandhealth
Letters published in the Guardian regarding Evan Harris’s statement
Dispatches documentary on abortion
Last week Channel 4 aired a documentary about the current plans to reform abortion law. The programme showed the significant scientific developments which have been made since the 1967 Act and the reforms brought about in 1990. It also showed the relative ease with which women and young girls can receive abortions, as well as the heartbreak suffered by those how had been through abortions. The programme succeeded in making viewers think about the baby growing inside a woman as a real human being with rights.
Dispatches documentary on abortion
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/dispatches/abortion+what+we+need+to+know/923747