What can we do about abortion?

This year the United Kingdom is facing the biggest shake-up on abortion law in years.

The Human Tissue and Embryos Bill is expected to come before Parliament before the end of the year.

It proposes to allow a child’s need for a father to be ignored in considering permission for IVF treatment; to allow, where there is diseased mitochondria in a female egg, for an egg with tissue combined from two women to be fertilised, so that a child would have two mothers and a father; and to permit the cloning of hybrid animal/human embryos for research — something which is forbidden elsewhere in Europe, but which has considerable commercial potential.

Anywhere, any time, any reason

It is expected that amendments concerning abortion will be added to the bill. The ultimate aim of pro-abortion activists, they have said, is for abortion to be allowed anywhere, any time, for any reason. ‘The decision about abortion should be that of the woman alone for whatever reason she thinks fit,’ says Ann Furedi, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. ‘The fact that she wants to end it should be good enough for the doctors, it should be good enough for the politicians and it should be good enough for you.’

On this occasion, pro-abortion MPs are expected to press for the requirement of two doctors’ signatures for an abortion to be scrapped, up to 13 weeks of pregnancy, allowing a woman to see one doctor and obtain an abortion on request. (Two doctors are currently required to state ‘in good faith’ that continuing with the pregnancy would offer greater risk to the physical or mental health of the woman than terminating the pregnancy.) There is expected to be pressure for nurses and midwives to be allowed to do abortions, for abortions to be carried out on unlicensed premises, for instance in doctors’ surgeries and clinics, and for legalised abortion to be extended to Northern Ireland, despite the fact that the majority of people in the province are opposed to abortion.

Human from the start

Pro-life activists are totally opposed. They have long sought to demonstrate that human life begins at the moment of conception, and that the baby is not only alive, but well developed by the time an abortion takes place. In other words, that abortion takes an existing human life. Improvements in ultrasound technology in recent years have led to increased awareness of the development of the baby in the womb.

Because babies can now survive outside the womb at around 22 weeks of pregnancy, there is expected to be an attempt to reduce the 24-week limit for so-called social abortions (abortions for suspected disability are allowed up to birth). While this may be seen as a positive step, some pro-lifers would point out that a reduction in the 24-week limit will doubtless be accompanied by easier access to abortion earlier in pregnancy, and possibly more abortions overall. Besides, they say, if an abortion is wrong at 23 weeks, it’s wrong at 13 weeks too.

Significance in 40?

It is perhaps not a coincidence that an attempt to amend abortion law comes in the 40th anniversary year of the decriminalisation of abortion. 40 is a significant figure in Scripture. It rained 40 days and 40 nights in Noah’s day. Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights on the mount. The Israelites wandered 40 years in the wilderness. The spies searched the promised land for 40 days. Goliath taunted the Israelites for 40 days. Nineveh was given 40 days to repent. Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, and appeared to his disciples for 40 days after his resurrection.

40 in the Bible speaks of probation, trial or testing, ending in either victory or judgement. (Bible students may find Ezekiel 29.9-14; Judges 3.10,11; 5.31; 8.28 of interest here.)

Church asleep

When the Abortion Act was passed in 1967, the Christian church was asleep. People were told that the act would affect only a few women in difficult circumstances. There were, we were told, a large number of illegal back-street abortions. Abortions carried out in dangerous, unsanitary conditions would now be carried out safely. Why, there might not be an increase in the number of abortions at all. Claims that the act would lead to large numbers of abortions were condemned as irresponsible sensationalism. The act was passed in a half-empty House of Commons.

Mostly social reasons

That opened the door. Now more than one in five pregnancies end in abortion. More than 200,000 living, unborn babies are killed by abortion in the UK each year. That’s 17,800 a month, 4,800 a week, 580 every day, approximately one every three minutes.

98% of abortions are carried out for social reasons: in other words, because it is not convenient for the baby to be born. 1% are carried out because of suspected handicap.

Post-abortion syndrome

An increasing number of women are suffering from post-abortion syndrome. Symptoms include sleeplessness, anger, depression, drugs and alcohol abuse, difficulties with relationships and feelings of guilt and grief. 32% of women having abortions last year had had at least one abortion previously. The American Elliot Institute says that 31% of women suffer health complications after abortion and 65% suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

What does the Scripture say about all this? Man (the word includes women and children) is made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1.26,27). It is forbidden to take innocent human life (Exodus 20.13). ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you’, says Jeremiah 1.5. God, we are told, has a plan and purpose for each life. A plan and a purpose which will not be fulfilled in lives deliberately ended before birth.

What can we do?

So what should we do? A short video about the Human Tissue Bill can be viewed at http://www.christianconcernforournation.co.uk/ccfontv and downloaded for showing in churches, home groups and prayer groups.

Every Christian is asked to meet his or her MP, alone or with friends, ask how the MP would vote on the different parts of the bill and let the All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group have a note of the answers. Details of how to do that and questions to ask can be downloaded at http://www.care.org.uk/Publisher/Filesaspx?ID=17660, or telephone 0161 799 5180 or 0161 273 8070.

On Saturday, October 27 (the 40th anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act), there will be a rally in Parliament Square, London, at 2pm, followed by a march through London and an ecumenical service of remembrance, repentance and healing at Westminster Cathedral, with a video link to the piazza outside. Attend if you can.

Other services will be held on the same day up and down the country. A website for information about events can be found at http://www.timeforchange.org.uk.

On the same day, October 27, there will be a National Day of Prayer on the subject of abortion. Christians are asked to arrange a joint prayer meeting for the churches of their town, arrange a prayer meeting at their church, meet to pray with their ladies’ meeting, house group or youth group or with friends, or pray at home.

Details of the day can be downloaded from the National Day of Prayer webpage at http://www.imagenet.org.uk, or a free leaflet with details and suggested prayer topics obtained from Image, Coverdale Centre, Coverdale Crescent, Ardwick, Manchester M12 4FG. A PowerPoint presentation, ‘If My people. . .’, prepared specially for use in prayer meetings in connection with the day of prayer, can be had from the same address for £5, including postage and packing. (You will need PowerPoint to show it.)

A tenth of the population

No less than 6.6 million babies — a tenth of the present population of the UK — have died from abortion since 1967. Now there’s going to be another opportunity to vote on the issue. It’s important that the Christian church isn’t asleep this time.

If all Christians took a stand on the issue, things would happen. Perhaps it’s time for Christians to stop pretending that abortion has nothing to do with them?

Stuart Cunliffe is research and communications director of Image, the Christian pro-life organisation.