Continued front Page I: to believe in a woman's right

to choose but he clearly does not believe in a doctor's right to choose: Although abortion figures last year hit a record high of 200,000, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists identified a big rise in the numbers of young medics with "conscientious objections" to abortion.
The Government also admitted that the refusal of doctors to either train in or perform the procedure was a "matter of great concern" though abortion services were not affected as a result.
Dr Vincent Argent, the former medical director of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, later told MPs that many NHS abortion services had arbitrary upper time limits for abortions of 12 to16 weeks largely because doctors are "unwilling to participate in later abortions because of partial conscientious objection".
John Smeaton of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said the strongest defence immediately available for unborn children was "the consciences of doctors and nurses, of all faiths and none, who oppose abortion".
He said: "These good people, who are now growing in number, have the capacity to resist the Government's unceasing pressure to make abortion easily available as soon as it's requested. Evan Harris's motion could have the effect of breaking that resistance." The proposal comes as Britain's abortion laws face their first major overhaul in 18 years. Amendments to liberalise the law have been tabled to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.
The liberalisation of the abortion law is widely expected to be approved by Parliament because of the large pro-abortion consensus among MPs.
Amendments tabled by Dr Harris, secretary of the AllParty Parliamentary ProChoice Group, and Labour backbencher Christine McCafferty seek to introduce abortion on demand in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy by scrapping the requirement of two doctors to be satisfied that any abortion meets the legal criteria necessary for it to go ahead.
Instead, all that will be necessary is for a "registered medical practitioner" to be of the opinion that the abortion will be carried out "in accordance with the conditions of good medical practice".
A further amendment tabled by Dr Harris and former Labour Health Secretary Frank Dobson extends the definition of "registered health practitioner" to nurses and midwives so that they, as well as doctors, can provide abortions.
Conservative Party leader David Cameron has signalled his support for the reforms, describing the abolition of the consent of two doctors as a "practical and sensible" step.
Dr Harris was unavailable for comment.