London, England, Jun 3, 2008 / 00:00 am
The fight against abortion continues in the UK, according to the catholic MP who tabled an amendment under the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill.
Edward Leigh, the conservative MP for Gainsborough, tried to reduce the abortion limit in Britain down to the European average of 12 weeks. He made his comments to the Universe after several cross-party proposals for new abortion limits of 12, 16, 20 or 22 weeks were all defeated in a series of free votes at Westminster last week.
Mr. Leigh, who said that Parliament had defied overwhelming public opinion, undertook to continue pushing for later abortions to be outlawed. “If William Wilberforce were here, he would have voted with us,” said Mr. Leigh. “And he worked to abolish slavery for 30 years.”
Mr. Leigh continued: “I am optimistic. We just need to keep the pressure on. Priests, parishes and the Catholic press need to keep the issue alive, especially in the mind of those Members of Parliament who did not vote to reduce abortion at the top end of the limit.”