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Campaigners say government report on late abortions is a whitewash


The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has criticised the Department of Health for presenting a report into late abortions as exonerating those involved, when in fact a substantial section of the report has been withheld until possible criminal proceedings have been resolved. SPUC has also condemned Sir Liam Donaldson's report into the referral of women for late abortions to a Spanish abortion clinic, issued today, as self-contradictory. SPUC general secretary, Paul Tully, said: "Sir Liam's report clearly recognises, in paragraph 45, that the BPAS call centre was trying to help a pregnant Sunday Telegraph reporter to obtain a post-24 week abortion on social grounds. This is illegal in England. "In paragraph 39, the report states that abortions after 22 weeks are only legal in Spain if there is 'grave danger to life or physical or mental health of the pregnant woman.' These grounds did not apply. "Sir Liam also cites the 1977 Criminal Law Act, which makes it an offence to conspire to commit an act abroad if that act would be illegal both in England and in the foreign country. Several of the telephone conversations recorded by the Sunday Telegraph (and quoted fully in the report) appear to be offering straightforward advice on where to go to kill a baby in the womb after the 22 week limit in Spain. ' We won't be able to see you. No. But I can give you a number of a clinic in Barcelona that can help you. Let me just get that for you,' the BPAS operator told the reporter. "It is fatuous for Sir Liam's report to conclude that BPAS was not breaking the law. The report points clearly to the conclusion that the BPAS's advice was illegal. In welcoming the report, while complimenting BPAS for offering such 'good' abortions, Health Minister Caroline Flint shows a disgraceful bias. Her attitude shows contempt for the law, for the many women hurt by abortion, and for the lives of unborn children," concluded Mr Tully. Source: SPUC

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