Teenage girls in the north of England may be being pressured into abortions so that local councils can reduce the number of underage pregnancies, according to campaigners. Counsellor Hazel Sewell from Preston said: "A lot of girls tell us they felt pressured to go ahead with it [the abortion]." An average of 11 under-16 girls per year have an abortion in Preston. Tony Mullett, of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said, "There is no justification for a girl of this age to go through with an abortion." [Lancashire Evening Post, 16 August]

A Cambridgeshire hospice service which cares for the terminally ill and their families at home has lost its grant from the health service and is appealing for £175,000 to enable it to survive. Nurse Margaret Banks said: "It can be very frightening when someone is dying at home. Hospice at Home gives support to families and helps them care for their loved ones." [Cambridge Evening News, 16 August]

Missouri is to appeal against a federal court ruling made last month which required that pregnant prisoners must be taken to abortion clinics when they request it. Attorney General Jay Nixon is to file a notice of appeal grounded on a 1986 Missouri law prohibiting the use of public funds, facilities and employees to assist an abortion when it is not necessary to save the life of the woman. [The Guardian, 17 August]