Data on abortions
The Information Commissioner has ordered the UK government to publish figures on late abortions of unborn children who have minor abnormalities.
The ProLife Alliance, which had been campaigning for transparency over the data under the Freedom of Information Act, said this was a ‘victory’ as it exposed the number of mothers opting for termination, simply because of conditions as medically minor as a club foot or cleft palate.
According to the Alliance, the circumstances laid out by the Abortion Act 1967 state that a foetus can be aborted after 24 weeks if there is a serious physical or mental abnormality. However, this law seems to be ignored in many cases to ‘weed out the “less-than-perfect”’ babies.
Despite the Department of Health resisting the revelation of the data, full information will be handed over to the ProLife Alliance very soon.
Andrea Minichiello Williams, Director of the Christian Legal Centre, said: ‘The public interest in knowing about what really happens in relation to abortion can only be satisfied if we have access to the information. The Commissioner’s judgement is a step in the right direction’.
