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An attempt to cut the 24-week upper limit for abortions to within the first 20 weeks of a pregnancy has been rejected overwhelmingly by MPs. Tory MP Nadine Dorries, an ex-nurse, who proposed the 20-week limit, said she was not anti-abortion, but said the baby involved "had rights". But her proposed cut was defeated by 332 votes to 190. MPs are now voting on whether to cut the limit to 22-weeks. Pro-choice campaigners dismissed efforts to cut the limits as "cynical". The proposed reductions came in amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Survival rates 'disputed' It is the second day of debate on the bill, and comes after MPs voted down a cross-party attempt to ban hybrid human animal embryos. MPs also rejected a cross-party move for doctors to consider the need for a "father and a mother" before allowing IVF treatment. Health Minister Dawn Primarolo insisted there was no evidence requiring the abortion laws to be changed.
"The upper gestational limit for termination of pregnancy was set by Parliament in 1990 at 24 weeks because the scientific evidence of the time was that the threshold of viability had increased and babies were increasingly surviving at 24 weeks and above. "That was the case in 1990 and it's certainly the case now."
But, David Jones, a professor of bio-ethics, said research on the survival rates for extremely premature babies was "disputed". In the Commons MPs rejected a bid to reduce the abortion limit to within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy by 393 votes to 71. A further attempt to get the limit cut to 16 weeks was defeated by 387 votes to 84. Gordon Brown said he would vote to maintain the current limit, while Conservative leader David Cameron said he would vote to lower the limit to 22 weeks. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is also expected to vote against any reduction. Mrs Dorries said she believed the right of a woman to choose had its limits. She reached this decision after seeing the "botched" abortion of a baby boy when she was a gynaecological nurse, she said. "I believe a baby has rights. Those rights kick in if that baby were born it would have a chance of life and if it feels pain as part of the abortion," she said. 'Protect the vulnerable' Ex-minister Edward Leigh, a father-of-six, who pressed the 12-week limit, said it would bring Britain into line with the rest of Europe.
"In modern Britain the most dangerous place to be is in your mother's womb. It should be a place of sanctity," he said. He said that "98% of abortions are social - only 1.3% are for foetuses which are handicapped, 0.4% are for risk to mother's life. "It is a bleak picture of modern Britain ... "I believe we should give that silent child a voice," he said. Labour's Claire Curtis-Thomas said she was not opposed to abortion, believing that women have the right to choose. "I just hope they don't choose to have an abortion," she said, adding that she would be happier with a 12-week limit. "I can't accept that we keep the limit where it stands where there is a possibility of life. The majority of people are deeply uncomfortable with that prospect," she said. Tory Mark Pritchard, who would like the limit to be 16 weeks, said: "I believe that terminating a child that has been woven and knitted in the womb should be a choice of last resort - not the latest manifestation of Britain's throwaway society." 'Difficult matter' But Labour's Chris McCafferty said restricting when a woman can have a termination "is just prolonging the agony" and was "cruel, cynical, ill-informed and inhumane". "It's a basic misconception that women with an unwanted pregnancy should only enter into the actual decision-making process after counselling with someone they do not know," she said. HAVE YOUR SAY
This is about a woman having the right to choose what happens to her body Leana, Shropshire
Ex-Cabinet minister Ann Widdecombe asked why "viability" of the child should be the only determining factor in setting the limit for abortions. "There is a substantial body of evidence about foetal pain and foetal distress and if the child who is being aborted cannot live, what's the point of the lethal injection?" Lib Dem Dr John Pugh said: "There are people in our world today in no way inferior to us in capacity, intelligence and beauty who were born at 22 weeks. That ought to give us cause for reflection." Government figures show that 193,737 women in England and Wales had an abortion in 2006. Previous attempts to force a vote on lowering the abortion limit have been defeated, but as there is a free vote on the issue, an unknown number of MPs may choose to stay away, or abstain. That increases the chances of those campaigning to lower the limit to 20 or 22 weeks, who claim to have the backing of 200 MPs. Need for father Ahead of the abortion debate, MPs voted down, by 292 votes to 217, an amendment that makes it a condition of IVF treatment that there be both a "father and a mother". They also opposed a further bid to ensure there is a "father or a male role model" before fertility treatment, by 290 votes to 222. Existing legislation requires IVF clinics to consider the "welfare" of any child created, which currently means considering the need for a father. However, the new bill says this should no longer be the case, saying instead there needs to be evidence of "supportive parenting". On Monday night a cross-party attempt to ban hybrid animal embryos was defeated. Roman Catholic cabinet ministers Ruth Kelly, Des Browne and Paul Murphy voted for a ban, while Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Tory leader David Cameron both opposed it. A bid to ban "saviour siblings" was voted down by 342 votes to 163.
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In modern Britain the most dangerous place to be is in your mother's womb. It should be a place of sanctity 
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