Researchers at the University of Oslo have found that women who undergo abortions suffer more long-term mental distress than women who have miscarriages.

The study of 40 women who had had a miscarriage and 80 who had an abortion noted that after 10 days, 47.5% of women who had miscarried suffered mental distress, compared with 30% who had had an abortion.

However, after five years 2.6% of women in the miscarriage group were still suffering distress compared with 20% in the abortion group.

Richard Warren of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said: "It has always been considered, and this study also shows, that the decision to terminate may bring with it long-standing feelings of anxiety and guilt."

[BBC, 12 December ] The Daily Telegraph's leader highlighted the need for women suffering after an abortion experience to receive help and called for a change in the current abortion law.

It comments: "Abortion, like miscarriage, involves the loss of a baby; unlike miscarriage, the loss is the result of a conscious decision."

[The Telegraph, 13 December ] Scientists at the Salk Institute in California have injected human embryonic brain cells into mouse embryos in an attempt to create models of conditions such as Parkinson's. Approximately 100,000 human embryonic stem cells were used for each mouse, representing 0.1% of the cells in the mouse's brain. [Evening Echo, 13 December ]