British MP Introduces Amendment To Reduce Abortion Time Limit To 20 Weeks' Gestation

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 08 May 2008 - 8:00 PDT

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British Member of Parliament Nadine Dorries has introduced an amendment to a human embryonic stem cell research bill that would reduce the time during which women can legally receive an abortion in the United Kingdom from 24 weeks' gestation to 20 weeks' gestation, BBC News reports. According to BBC News, advocates on both sides of the issue are lobbying MPs ahead of a possible vote on the amendment later this month.

Dorries, a member of the Conservative Party, has made several attempts to reduce the time limit in the past, BBC News reports (BBC News, 5/6). Dorries said that she "respect[s] a woman's right to choose" but added that more premature infants are surviving now than when abortion was legalized in the country 40 years ago. "With an increasing number of babies surviving at 24 weeks or below, we now have the absurd situation where doctors are battling to save premature babies in one part of the hospital and ending life in another part at exactly the same point of gestation," Dorries said (PA/Google.com, 5/5).

The British Medical Association and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are opposed to changing the current 24-week limit, saying there has not been significant improvement in survival rates for premature infants born at 24 weeks. Evan Harris, an MP from the Liberal Democrat Party, said the "medical community is clear that there is no medical or scientific basis for any reduction in the current time limit."

The proposal also would allow nurses to perform abortions early in pregnancy. According to BBC News, MPs will be allowed a "free vote" on any abortion-related amendments when the bill is debated (BBC News, 5/6).

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