London, England, May 21, 2008 / 14:39 pm
The British House of Commons has rejected proposals to reduce the 24-week limit on legal abortion procedures.Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor has spoken out about the results saying that many people will be "very disappointed" the outcome.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries, a former nurse, had proposed a 20-week limit, the BBC reports.
"There comes a point when it has to be said this baby has a right to life," 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."
Dorries' proposal failed by 332 votes to 190. Another proposal reducing the limit to 22 weeks failed by 304 votes to 233.