PRESS RELEASE – 21 June 2006

Following the Cardinal’s public statements after meeting Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt this afternoon, Anne Quesney, Director of Abortion Rights, said:

‘Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor’s attempt to whip up a US style attack on later abortion is an unambiguous attempt to undermine support for women’s reproductive rights with the ultimate aim of banning all abortion.’

‘The Cardinal is implacably opposed to all abortion and is focussing on later abortion to confuse opinion. His hard-line position is not representative of British opinion, which overwhelmingly supports a woman’s right to make her own decisions. There is no broad consensus on reducing the time limit. When people learn the reality of later termination - how few there are and the desperate situations faced by women who need them - they have compassion and do not want to see women criminalised.’

‘The major medical bodies - the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the Royal College of Nurses - have already reviewed the evidence and rejected a reduction in the time limit.’

‘The Cardinal would be well advised to focus on the promotion of contraception rather than the criminalisation of women to most effectively reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies and abortions.’

Ends

For further information and interviews please contact Anne Quesney, Abortion Rights Direct on 020 7923 97 92 or mobile 07909 974 101.

Notes to editor:

1. Abortion Rights is the national pro-choice campaign, working to defend and extend abortion rights and provide a pro-choice voice to the media.

2. Abortion Rights is campaigning to: Liberalise the current UK abortion law and make abortion available on request in the first three months and with one doctor’s signature thereafter. Improve access to, and experience of, abortion – ensure that all women in the UK have equal access to safe, legal and free abortion. Oppose any restrictions to women’s current rights and access to abortion

3. Abortion in the UK One in three women has an abortion in her lifetime 76 per cent of the British population support a woman’s right to choose. Abortion laws in the UK are more restrictive than in almost every other European country, where abortion on request is legal in the first three months of pregnancy Abortion has been legal in Britain since 1967, but only by permission of two doctors and in restricted circumstances. Ten per cent of GPs consider themselves to be conscientious objectors and frequently refuse to grant women an abortion, despite General Medical Council guidelines. A quarter of women having abortions in England and Wales have to pay for them - there are no public funds available specifically to help poorer women in these circumstances

4. For an evidence based briefing sheet on why some women need later abortion please see www.vfc.org.uk For the Marie Stopes International primary research document on later abortion please see www.mariestopes.org.uk/uk/whats-new.htm