Rebecca Duffet spoke with Andrew Marsh about abortion in the UK

Andrew Marsh

In Britain there were more than 200,000 abortions in 2009. Since the Abortion Act in 1967 over 7 million abortions have been carried out in Great Britain. For 25% of women having an abortion last year and aged 25 or under at the time, it was not their first and across all age groups, 34% were repeat abortions. Seeking to highlight many of the key issues and spark discussion and change, Christian Concern has launched the Choose Life campaign supported by Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali. To find out more Rebecca Duffett spoke with Campaigns Director, Andrew Marsh.

Rebecca: What is the Abortion Act 1967?

Andrew: The Abortion Act in 1967 was a very significant Act. It was a very significant turning point in UK history, because it was the first time that abortion was permitted legally in the country, for certain situations according to particular categories. A number of those are listed in the Act. The vast majority of abortions that take place under the Act now do so under two categories; one of which is where the continuation of the pregnancy would involve risk greater than if the pregnancy were terminated either to the physical or the mental health of the pregnant woman. The vast majority of abortions, I understand, are permitted on the basis of risk to the mental health of the pregnant woman.

Rebecca: New research has shown that nearly 90% would support a change in the law which would guarantee women were given lots of information before they got an abortion. Do you think that women just aren't getting enough information at the moment?

Andrew: I do think that's the case, yes. The survey that you refer to was commissioned by the Choose Life campaign and was published on the anniversary of the Abortion Act. It shows that 89% of British adults support a woman's right, enshrined in the law, to be informed of all the physical, psychological and emotional risks associated with abortion. At the moment there is no legal provision for women to be given access and advice on all the consequences of abortion and indeed no provision for them to be given the right to information about alternatives to abortion, like adoption. At the moment the situation needs to change, so that there is legal provision for that and that women are given that information and advice.

Rebecca: Tell us a more about the Choose Life campaign.

Andrew: The Choose Life campaign has recently been seeking to highlight the scale and significance of abortion in our country. In many ways abortion remains a hidden reality to many people, a taboo subject. One of the initial aims of the Choose Life campaign is to highlight that and to bring this subject to the attention of the public at large.

Another aspect of the survey you mentioned, in fact one of the major themes that came out of it was the huge ignorance over the scale of abortion now in the UK. Last year there were over 200,000 abortions that took place in Britain and yet only about 3% of British adults are able to estimate that number to within 50,000. There's a huge degree of ignorance over the scale and that's significant, because the scale of abortion at over 200,000 is, we believe, much bigger than those who initially framed the Abortion Act and voted on it back in 1967 ever imagined. The situations under which abortion is taking place have been interpreted in a much more relaxed way than perhaps many of those who initially framed the Act back in 1967 imagined.

One of the important things to remember, is that number 200,000 is not just a statistic; behind that statistic lie personal stories. One of the things that the Choose Life campaign has uncovered and is seeking to highlight is that many women undergoing abortion actually have very traumatic experiences and report that they are not aware of the implications of abortion, the consequences or the alternatives to it. They often feel pressured into having an abortion, perhaps by others local to them, perhaps by those who give medical advice. Many suffer a number of different kinds of effects for a long time afterwards, short term and long term.

As part of this most recent campaign we sought to highlight the experience of five women, who've written a short book highlighting their experiences of abortion, and they're very traumatic and these things just often are not told. When an abortion is discussed, these aspects are often off the table.

One of the things we're calling for is a renewed debate on the topic of abortion and particularly drawing attention to this issue that you've mentioned of informed consent; that at the very least women should have that right enshrined in law, to be given the information and the advice that they need on all the consequences, whether emotional or physical or psychological and all the alternatives to abortion as I've mentioned, such as adoption.