On 27 April 1968, the Abortion Act came into effect in Great Britain – six months after being passed by Parliament. For 55 years , it has been legal in England, Wales and Scotland to kill an unborn child in the womb.
Abortions are now carried out on an industrial scale. In 1969, the first full year of the Act operating, there were around 58,000 abortions in Britain. By 1973 there were already about 175,000[1].
In total, there have now been over ten million recorded abortions in Great Britain since the 1967 Act was passed.
In total, there have now been over ten million recorded abortions in Great Britain since the 1967 Act was passed, about 98 per cent of them for social reasons. Around one in five pregnancies in Britain now ends in abortion.
Imago Dei
Evangelicals, tragically passive in the 60s, from 1970 onwards increasingly began to grasp that where sanctity of life issues were concerned, ‘Love your neighbour’ requires a degree of political engagement.
In 1987, in contrast to 20 years earlier, when David (now Lord) Alton introduced a bill to reduce the time limit for abortions from 28 to 18 weeks, many evangelicals backed his campaign.
…all human life is made in the image of God.
A major factor in this turnaround was the visit to England of the late Francis Schaeffer in 1979. His film series, Whatever happened to the human race? showed with devastating clarity that, when people reject God’s truth, the door is opened to every kind of inhumanity – infanticide and euthanasia as well as abortion.
Crucially, he drew attention to the seemingly forgotten biblical truth that the sanctity of human life does not rest on capacity or independence, which may be extinguished by sickness or age. It rests on the truth that all human life is made in the image of God, and is intrinsically valuable from conception. The earthly life of Jesus Christ himself began when he ‘was conceived by the Holy Spirit’ (Matthew 1:20).
The argument that a foetus is less than human because it is dependent on its mother could disprove the ‘humanity’ of a newborn infant or an adult on dialysis. The argument that taking independent breath is needed for full humanity could call into question the humanity of an elderly person on a respirator. The notion that relationality is a qualification for full humanity could disqualify an elderly person with advanced dementia.
Defending the sanctity of life
Since its inception in 1991, The Christian Institute has sought to help Christians understand this biblical truth and its application to abortion and other ethical issues such as assisted suicide.
We have sought to defend the sanctity of human life through targeted campaigns. In 2008 we campaigned to stop amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act, which would have had the effect of liberalising the abortion law. Mobilising Christians, conducting polling and briefing MPs all helped to ensure the law was not weakened.
Now history is repeating itself, with the HFE Authority calling for greater licence to experiment on embryos – including research into human-animal hybrids.
Scientifically speaking, life begins when a father’s sperm combines with the mother’s egg.
In 2014 the CI exposed secret guidance from the coalition Government to clinics saying that doctors did not need to see women seeking an abortion. This effectively removed the requirement for two doctors to agree that there were legal grounds for an abortion — a rule designed to protect the lives of women and their unborn babies.
Efforts to legalise abortion in Northern Ireland were also thwarted for many years before the practice was finally imposed on the Province by Westminster in 2019.
Scientifically speaking, life begins when a father’s sperm combines with the mother’s egg. A completely unique genetic code is formed, different from anyone else who has ever existed.
Abortion is not only a doctrinal issue, but a pastoral one.
Read When does human life begin?
Christian thinking and contemporary opposition
John R Ling
When does human life begin? It is a fundamental and decisive question because your answer reveals your understanding of the nature and status of the human embryo. It also shapes your stance on the big bioethical issues of the day such as abortion, cloning and embryonic stem cell research. There are many voices sowing confusion, but the Bible is unmistakably clear that human life begins at conception. In this booklet, John Ling provides a wide-ranging explanation of biblical truth, the historical Christian perspective and evidence from modern science to support this position.
At five weeks, the heart is forming, the nervous system is taking shape and some blood vessels are present. At week six the heart can sometimes be seen beating. At week seven, the brain is growing rapidly. And all this is before most women even have their first scan.
Choose Life
Abortion is not only a doctrinal issue, but a pastoral one. Every abortion is a tragedy, for mother as well as child.
The CI frequently shares good news stories of mums and dads who choose life for their unborn child, often against the advice of their doctors. Many of these parents are not Christians, but through their actions they bear witness to God’s common grace.
…they owe their very lives to parents prepared to fight for them.
Our Choose Life series features stories from parents such as the Harwoods, who said ‘no’ to abortion despite very difficult circumstances.
Others, such as Leslie McCaskie, have spoken bravely of the damage abortion has done in their life, or have shared how they owe their very lives to parents prepared to fight for them against outside pressure to undergo abortion.
Yet, shockingly, in the UK it is still legal to abort children up to 24 weeks, or up to birth if it is believed that the baby will be born with a disability.
On this tragic anniversary we need to actively encourage others to consider the truth that all humans are made in the image of their Maker, the one true Creator God. And we need to pray and work towards a sea-change in public attitudes towards abortion.
[1] Abortion statistics, England and Wales: 2021, ONS, Department of Health, June 2022, Table 1; Termination of pregnancy statistics — year ending December 2021, ISD Scotland, 31 May 2022, Table 6
This article has been adapted from a version written by Dr Sharon James for the Evangelical Times.
By Sharon James, Social Policy Analyst