stop promoting abortions, SPUC urges government

stop promoting abortions, SPUC urges government WESTMINSTER, - On the eve of the anniversary of the passage of the Abortion Act, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) calls upon the Government to take positive steps to reduce the number of abortions being carried out in the UK. John Smeaton, SPUC's national director, stated: "After 38 years of killing under the Abortion Act 1967, the Blair Government continues to promote abortion, particularly among the young. This year has seen a 14-year-old schoolgirl hitting the headlines after her school arranged a secret abortion for her which she later regretted, and a mother beginning a courageous legal battle to prevent underage girls from going through the ordeal of abortion without parental knowledge. "The government's answer to this outcry has been to issue guidance telling doctors that they can continue to perform abortions on underage girls without parental knowledge or consent. The government is also funding the pro-abortion Education for Choice organisation, which promotes abortion to schoolchildren through information packs and role-plays. "If the Government were really concerned about abortion, it would stop selling it as a quick fix to a vulnerable audience. We at SPUC are setting up a network of opposition to these pro-abortion strategies and are encouraging parents to write to schools, to ask the school to make its position on the provision of abortion clear. On the anniversary of the passage of the Abortion Act, we call upon all our supporters to join with us in this campaign." SPUC renewed its call for caution over media reports that David Steel is in favour of reducing the upper limit for legal abortion. During a short debate in the House of Lords last July, Lord Steel, the architect of the 1967 Abortion Act, asked whether the UK could consider European models of abortion law which include abortion on demand up to 12 weeks gestation. The current Parliament is the most anti-life in over thirty years and any changes Parliament makes to the Abortion Act are likely to increase rather than decrease the number of abortions carried out in the UK.