Joanna Jepson, who was herself born with a facial defect, challenged the abortion law.
The Government has asked the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to draw up new guidance on late abortions for 'seriously handicapped' foetuses.
Under the current law, a baby can be aborted up to birth if it has a 'serious handicap', but this has been interpreted to include treatable abnormalities like a cleft palate.
In 2003 Joanna Jepson, herself born with a facial defect, took legal action to challenge a police decision not to investigate doctors who aborted a baby because of a cleft palate. The Crown Prosecution Service later decided that the doctors had acted within the law.
The Government has requested a review of the 'serious handicap' guidelines in response to a report on the abortion law published by a Parliamentary committee. The report recommended that the Government seek clarification on this matter.
But the Science and Technology Committee also recommended liberalising the law by dropping the need for two doctors to sign off an abortion, by allowing nurses to give drugs for early medical abortions, and by allowing women to take the second dose at home.
The Government has said it will leave it to Parliament to debate and decide whether to change the law in these areas.
