THE Archbishop of Canterbury has stepped into the debate over abortion, calling on politicians to review the present law which he claims has produced “a groundswell of distaste” together with “unhappiness and bewilderment”.

Rowan Williams also suggests that voters use the election campaign to question parliamentary candidates over their views on abortion.

In an article in today’s Sunday Times News Review, Williams does not say that he is opposed outright to abortion — the position of the Roman Catholic Church — but he does make clear his view that the practice is “the deliberate termination of a human life”.

Williams’s intervention is the first by a senior Church of England figure since the debate sparked by Michael Howard. Last weekend the Conservative leader said he was in favour of a reduction in the legal limit for abortions from 24 to 20 weeks and promised that, if elected, he would make parliamentary time for legislation.

Howard’s intervention was commended by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, who added this weekend that he was “pleased . . . there will be a debate in the lead up to and after the general election”.

Howard, Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, and Tony Blair — who does not support a review of the law — have all made it clear that abortion should be an issue of personal conscience for MPs and not party policy, but Williams warns them not to use this as an alibi to avoid debate.

The archbishop dismisses concerns that such a debate may produce an American-style pro-life/pro-choice split.

“The idea that raising the issues here is the first step towards a theocratic tyranny or a capitulation to some Neanderthal Christian right is alarmist nonsense,” he says.

Williams argues that the “sheer statistics” of rising numbers of abortions make a debate essential, as does the progress of science.

He writes: “Whether it is a matter of evidence about foetal sensitivity to outside stimuli (including pain), the nature of foetal consciousness or the expanding possibilities of saving early foetal life outside the womb, the trend is inexorably towards a sharper recognition of the foetus as a natural candidate for ‘rights’ of some kind.”

Opinion began to shift last year towards a change in the law when 3-D ultrasound images were published that showed a baby making a walking-like movement at 12 weeks, thumb-sucking and yawning at 14 weeks and opening its eyes at 18 weeks. In addition, recent medical advances mean that premature babies born at 23 weeks — or on a few occasions 22 weeks — can now survive.

There is also a groundswell within parliament for a review of the law. Ann Widdecombe, the former Tory Home Office minister, said this weekend that she would lead an attempt to introduce a private member’s bill in the next parliament that would cut the limit. She did not specify a limit other than “the lowest for which I can command support in parliament”.

Supporters of change won unexpected backing this weekend from Britain’s leading authority on the developing foetus, who said that he had changed his view about the upper limit for abortions performed for social reasons and for minor handicaps.

Professor Kypros Nicolaides, professor of foetal medicine at King’s College London, said: “I was previously strongly opposed to a lowering of the limit because we didn’t have the technology to diagnose (handicaps) effectively.

“Now we do, and if we do not manage this within 20 weeks this is due to the incompetence of medical professionals and the failure of the government to provide a good abortion service.”

Other supporters of change include Lord Steel, the former Lib-Dem leader and architect of Britain’s abortion laws; and Edwina Currie, the Conservative former health minister.

A YouGov poll yesterday showed that 43% of the public now believe the 24-week limit should be cut, compared with 29% who favour the status quo or an increase. A higher proportion of women (51%) than men (33%) support a reduction.

Joanna Jepson, the Church of England curate whose attempts to secure a prosecution for the abortion of an embryo with a cleft palate failed last week, said: “Political or not, this is the moment where truth about the value of life must be publicly upheld and honoured.

“The painful effects of abortion on all involved must be confronted and not avoided out of squeamish or political cowardice.”

Additional reporting: Nicholas Hellen

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