03.10.12
Miller backs reduction in legal abortion limit
Pro-choice campaigners have raised concerns after minister for women Maria Miller backed calls for a reduction in the legal limit for abortions.
Miller has confirmed she will press for a reduction from 24 weeks to 20, and in an interview with the Daily Telegraph she said: “You have got to look at these matters in a common sense way. I looked at it from the really important stance of the impact on women and children.”
She highlighted the practical impact late-term abortion has on women and added: “What we are trying to do here is not to put obstacles in people’s way but to reflect the way medical science has moved on.”
Her remarks were welcomed by Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, who last year put forward an amendment that would have stripped abortion providers of their role providing pregnancy counselling.
Dorries stated that she intends to press for a fresh review of the abortion laws this autumn.
Darinka Aleksic, campaign co-ordinator for Abortion Rights, said: “The fact that the minister responsible for women and equalities wants to restrict access to abortion, one of the most important women’s health services, is really alarming.
“Her appointment, alongside Jeremy Hunt at the Department of Health, who would like to see abortion severely restricted, does nothing to inspire confidence in the Government’s commitment to women’s right to choose.”
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