THE controversy over the 24-week legal limit for abortions is to be reignited by doctors next week when they debate whether restrictions on the procedure should be tightened.
Advances in medical science in recent years have meant that more babies born at less than 24 weeks are able to survive. New ultrasound scans have also produced pictures of a 12-week-old foetus appearing to walk in the womb.
The developments have led campaigners to call for the legal limit to be dropped to 20 weeks, as babies are now “viable” beyond this point.
The British Medical Association is to debate the issue on Thursday at its annual conference in Manchester. The BMA has not debated abortion time limits since 1989.
Anti-abortion campaigners support moves to lower the legal limit for the majority of terminations. But many sexual health campaigners believe that changing the legislation may make matters worse for women in desperate situations and those who, for a variety of reasons, are unable to have an earlier abortion. Abortion is available up until birth only in situations where the mother’s life is at risk or the child will be seriously handicapped, although these cases are rare.
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The BMA has not said whether it believes the general abortion limit should be lowered. A spokeswoman said: “The BMA currently views the Abortion Act as a practical and humane piece of legislation and believes this law should be extended to Northern Ireland. Motions in this year’s annual meeting reflect a feeling by doctors that there should be debate on whether advances in neonatal care impact on the current abortion legislation.”
The vote on the issue is expected to be close.
In 2003, 190,700 abortions were carried out in England and Wales, with 9,100 of those on non-residents — mainly from Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic where abortion is illegal unless the mother’s life is at risk, including from suicide. A spokeswoman for the FPA, formerly the Family Planning Association, said: “(We) believe that the time limit should stay at 24 weeks. We hope that the BMA would also recommend it be unchanged.”