The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has called for a specialist centre offering late-term abortions to Scottish women, after the publication of a controversial new report.
The study, by researchers at Glasgow University, advocates wider provision of abortion between 16 weeks and the legal limit of 24 weeks, calling it a “legitimate pregnancy outcome”.
Currently, women in Scotland who want an abortion between after 18-20 weeks usually have to travel to England.
‘Right to life’
Responding to the calls, Michael Robinson, of pro-life group Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), called for a “fuller and more comprehensive study” into the “long-term consequences of abortion to a mother’s health and wellbeing in Scotland”.
“SPUC do agree there is a great need for a more open discussion about the reality and harm of abortion to both the unborn child and the mother.
“When talking about abortion we often talk about ‘rights’, but there is no greater human right than the right to life.”
BPAS campaign
BPAS, one of the UK’s biggest abortion providers, is campaigning to change the law and allow abortion up to birth for any reason.
The group wants abortion to be completely decriminalised and calls for the removal of two sections of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.
BPAS has previously claimed that abortion is safer than giving birth and is a “normal part of life”.
Peter D Williams, Executive Officer of pro-life group Right to Life, has said: “The idea that abortion is just another medical procedure, and that it should be a free-for-all action outside of public ethical concerns is ludicrous.”
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.
