Mags GarganThere were 565 babies aborted at 23 weeks’ gestation in 2011
Fresh calls for a rethink on British abortion laws have been raised after new figures showed an increasing number of babies survive birth at 23 weeks. The figures, uncovered by The Sunday Times, raise concerns that the current legal timeframe for abortion up to 24 weeks’ gestation has failed to keep up with modern science.
The 1967 Abortion Act does not apply to Northern Ireland. The Act allows abortion up to term in certain circumstances.
The figures show that at least 120 babies born during the 23rd week have survived over the last four years, but that the chances of survival differ markedly from hospital to hospital. Larger hospitals with centralised expertise showed the best results, with one such hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust, successfully saving all five such babies born last year.
The legal timeframe for abortions in Britain has been changed before. The original 1967 legislation allowed for abortions up to the 28th week of pregnancy, but in 1990 this was revised downwards to 24 weeks due to improvements in neo-natal care during the intervening decades.
The matter was last debated in the House of Commons in October 2012 when Conservative Party MP Nadine Dorries brought a motion to be debated which included a call for a further reduction for the upper limit to 20 weeks. Introducing her motion at the time, the controversial MP for Mid Bedfordshire said “As it stands, the 1967 Act is a joke. Everyone knows that in this country abortion is obtained on demand by whoever wants it, whenever they want it… Parliament’s reluctance and nervousness about reforming abortion law, or even discussing it, creates an atmosphere of disrespect for Parliament among abortion providers.”
New figures
Commenting on the new figures on premature survival, Dorries said: “It is time for the House to vote again on this issue and I shall be exploring options in what remains of this Parliament. In the past, the vote has shamefully stuck at 24 weeks. This position is no longer acceptable and parliamentarians have to look at the facts and vote accordingly and not adhere to their own false political ideology.”
In 2008, MPs voted down the attempts to reduce the limit to 20 or 22 weeks.
The figures for babies born at 23 weeks between 2011 and 2014 uncovered by The Sunday Times are as follows:
* Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 10 out of 16 survived.
* University College London Hospital, 20 of 26 babies treated survived
* North Bristol NHS Trust, 15 of the 19 babies survived.
* Barts Health NHS Trust, London, six of 11 babies admitted to the neonatal unit survived.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Dr Ngozi Edi-Osagie, clinical director of neonatal services at Central Manchester University Hospitals, said: “It is a concentration of expertise, both in medical and nursing, that contribute to making a difference in survival at this very low gestation.” She believes that a positive attitude made all the difference, adding. “If you say that they don’t survive, they won’t.”
Meanwhile, there were 565 babies aborted at 23 weeks’ gestation in 2011. Chairman of the all-party pro-life group Conservative MP Fiona Bruce said: “I do not understand why there is not more outcry about the fact that we allow viable babies to be aborted.
“The new figures support what we have known for a while: that advances in prenatal care make a mockery of our 24-week abortion limit.”