Anti Abortion-Pro Life

Anti-abortion campaigners have made the Houses of Parliament their latest target after projecting the figure for the number of abortions carried out to date onto the side of the famous landmark.

The projection, which read 'Abortion 1967-2007 Death Toll 6.7 Million', filled the entire river-side face of the Houses of Parliament.

The move by pro-life alliance Alive and Kicking was to mark the 40th anniversary of the Abortion Act.

According to pro-life campaigners, there have been 6.7 million abortions since the Act was officially passed on October 27 1967 - a figure they say is rapidly approaching the population of London.

Women deserve better than abortion - that is why they are being 'Silent No More'.

To commemorate the tragedy of 40 years of abortion in our country, there will be a 'Silent No More Gathering' taking place at Old Palace Yard, Westminster (opposite entrance to the House of Lords) this Saturday 27th October starting at 10:00a.m. This public gathering will feature the stories of women and men who have had personal abortion experience. They will tell of their feelings of grief and sadness but also of peace and healing. They want to reach out to those struggling after an abortion experience and to tell them that help is available.Women, men and the wider family deserve better than the death of their child as the solution to an unplanned pregnancy.

Speaking at the Westminster event will be, among others:

Margaret Cuthill from Scotland: "My abortions did not resolve any of the fears I had in being pregnant. The reality was I changed one set of problems for another that could never be changed. I chose the death of my children as a life solution".

Tracy Joynes from Southampton: "Abortion killed my baby, it also destroyed a large part of me".

These and other brave people are willing to stand up in public to tell of their personal abortion experience. It is thanks to this courage that the secrecy and silence surrounding the pain of abortion is being brought out into the public domain.

This event is one of a series that have been and will be held in towns and cities across the UK.

Relief that government not interested in abortion amendments

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has commented on this morning's statements by the government on abortion law reform.

Dawn Primarolo, health minister, told the House of Commons Science and Technology select committee that the Abortion Act 1967 "doesn't require further amendment at the present time."

Anthony Ozimic, SPUC political secretary, commented: "We are relieved that the government does not seem interested in seeing the Abortion Act amended at this time. Any amendments to the Abortion Act at this time are likely to result in an increase in the numbers of abortions. We call upon parliamentarians to resist calls, from whatever quarter, to table amendments to the Abortion Act and instead to focus upon the many practical ways of reducing the numbers of abortions, in particular by addressing the pressures upon expectant mothers which lead them to consider abortion."

Abortion robs everyone of their future, the heads of the Roman Catholic Church in England Wales and Scotland said today, but they acknowledged that it would never be abolished altogether from British law.

In an open letter, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and his Scottish counterpart, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, plead for “a change in minds and hearts” in British attitudes towards termination of pregnancy.

The call marks the 40th anniversary this week of the Abortion Act, which made abortion in the UK legal up to 28 weeks.

The cardinals said that a change in attitudes towards support for young mothers, along with greater emphasis on sexual relations within marriage, could lead to a decrease in the number of abortions without any change to the existing law.

In the letter, they stated: “The 1967 Act was intended to solve the problem of illegal abortion, on the basis that it was a major cause of death in pregnant women. Yet our countries now perform nearly 200,000 abortions every year.

“Whatever our religious creed or political conviction, abortion on this scale can only be a source of distress and profound anguish for us all...Abortion robs everyone of their future. Individually and as a society we believe we have another choice: to give birth to life.”

The cardinals set out their plans for reducing the number of abortions carried out in the UK every year. “Whilst upholding the principle of the sacredness of human life, it is both licit and important for those in public life who oppose abortion on principle to work and vote for achievable incremental improvement to what is an unjust law.”

This approach could be interpreted as a row-back in the rhetoric adopted towards abortion previously by the Catholic Church in England, Wales and Scotland. This year Cardinal O'Brien likened the rate of termination in Scotland to “two Dunblane massacres every day” and called for a reversal in the law.

Speaking on the Today programme on Radio 4 this morning, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor acknowledged that the Catholic Church was “not able to abolish abortion from the statute book” and defended the more pragmatic tone towards dealing with abortion. “I think there is such a thing as a gradual change and there are many politicians and the people who they represent who would be happy for a gradual change in the law,” he said.

He added that he was sure the Vatican would accept the approach taken by the English and Scottish bishops to press for a steady decrease in the number of abortions, but acknowledged that to engender such a change may “take years”.