A new birth control device, a contraceptive patch, is being heralded as "the biggest family-planning revolution since the Pill".
Johnson & Johnson, the world's biggest manufacturer of the Pill, are in the final stages of researching the Evra Contraceptive Patch, which works like a smoker's patch and is effective for a week.
Many women have trouble remembering to take the Pill on a daily basis and so market analysts hope that the patch will solve this problem, "especially in Third World countries".
Angela Corless, spokesman for Life, said: "This is a very clever marketing ploy. "Patches are associated with positive things like giving up smoking. This makes it even more difficult for women to psychologically reconcile that it is not only an abortifacient, but also damaging to their health."
• High street chemists are to be given the power to hand out the "morning-after" Pill in a Government bid to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies.
Ministers are considering proposals, which would enable pharmacists to make the Pill available after a consultation with a doctor over the telephone. Pro-Life groups warn that it will encourage more young women to have casual sex.
Dr John Guly, acting chair man of Family and Youth Concern, said: "Quite apart from the obvious moral issue, the Pill is a potent steroid. Statistics show that around 30 women a year die as a result of its side effects.
"The increased availability of the morning-after Pill is simply adding fuel to the fire."
• More than 70 per cent of voters in Ireland want a referendum on abortion, the Pro-Life Campaign has revealed.
An opinion poll found that around 80 per cent of those questioned said that they would like to see the launch of a government campaign offering women in crisis "positive alternatives" to abortion.