The heads of the Roman Catholic Church in England, Wales and Scotland warned yesterday that abortion robs everyone of their future.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor’s comments come in a joint open letter with his Scottish counterpart, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, released yesterday as Health Minister Dawn Primarolo claimed there was not enough scientific evidence to justify lowering the legal abortion limit below 24 weeks.The Church heads pleaded in their letter for a “change in minds and hearts” in British attitudes towards termination of pregnancy, but also acknowledged that abortions would never be abolished altogether from British law.
The approach of the 40th anniversary of the Abortion Act this week has sparked fresh debate over the ethical implications of abortion. The Abortion Act made abortions legal up to 28 weeks when it came into force in 1967.
The Roman Catholic Church leaders are hoping for a change in attitude that will see a shift towards supporting young mothers, along with a greater emphasis on sexual relations within marriage, instead of promoting abortions.
They believe that if this change of focus is properly implemented, it could lead to a decrease in the number of abortions without any change to the existing law.
The Catholic leaders stated in their letter: “The 1967 Act was intended to solve the problem of illegal abortion, on the basis that it was a major cause of death in pregnant women. Yet our countries now perform nearly 200,000 abortions every year.
