Steel: No abortions after 12 weeks

Last updated at 13:20 04 July 2004


The architect of Britain's abortion laws today called for the legal limit for terminations to be halved to just 12 weeks for "social" reasons.

Lord Steel said medical advances meant complications could be detected earlier and claimed the current limit of 24 weeks was outdated.

The former Liberal leader introduced the controversial Abortion Bill in 1966 as a 28-year-old MP.

It became law the following year with the encouragement of the then Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins.

Speaking to the Scotland on Sunday newspaper, Lord Steel said: "If it's simply the decision of the mother then the limit should be 12 weeks. I personally believe it's likely to happen.

"When we introduced the Act it was always the intention that the operation should be carried out as early as possible.

"Advances in medical technology mean that a large number of problems and abnormalities are now detectable at an earlier stage than they were in previous years. Also, a foetus can survive at an earlier stage than it could in the past."

The 1967 Act legalised abortion in the UK and set a time limit of 28 weeks.

It was cut to 24 weeks in 1990, with termination only permitted in the case of severe disabilities.

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