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| Anti-abortion campaigners plan vigils to mark anniversary of 1967 Act | Anti-abortion campaigners plan vigils to mark anniversary of 1967 Act |
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| Anti-abortion campaigners will stage "kerbside vigils" in more than 50 towns and cities around the UK on Saturday to mark the 44th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act's implementation. | Anti-abortion campaigners will stage "kerbside vigils" in more than 50 towns and cities around the UK on Saturday to mark the 44th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act's implementation. |
| The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) says supporters will form "chains" on the kerbside and carry placards "which bring home the reality of abortion". | The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) says supporters will form "chains" on the kerbside and carry placards "which bring home the reality of abortion". |
| Simultaneous counter-demonstrations are being organised by pro-choice supporters in some of the locations listed by SPUC, including Bath, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Sheffield and Newcastle. | Simultaneous counter-demonstrations are being organised by pro-choice supporters in some of the locations listed by SPUC, including Bath, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Sheffield and Newcastle. |
| The 1967 Act, which is still the law governing abortions in England, Scotland and Wales, came into effect on 27 April 1968. This weekend's activities come at a time when abortion providers say they have been targeted by an upsurge in pressure from anti-abortion activists, including cyber-attacks on the website of the largest provider. | The 1967 Act, which is still the law governing abortions in England, Scotland and Wales, came into effect on 27 April 1968. This weekend's activities come at a time when abortion providers say they have been targeted by an upsurge in pressure from anti-abortion activists, including cyber-attacks on the website of the largest provider. |
| A 40-day vigil outside a British Pregnancy Advisory Service clinic in London culminated last month in a gathering of hundreds of Catholics, including Alan Hopes, the auxiliary bishop of Westminster, and provoked a counter-demonstration by a larger group of pro-choice activists. | A 40-day vigil outside a British Pregnancy Advisory Service clinic in London culminated last month in a gathering of hundreds of Catholics, including Alan Hopes, the auxiliary bishop of Westminster, and provoked a counter-demonstration by a larger group of pro-choice activists. |
| The Labour MP Diane Abbott, the shadow health minister, said "hardline anti-choice groups" had been given a new lease of life by the government's positioning on abortion. | |
| Abbott, who resigned in January from a cross-party group considering options to alter pregnancy counselling arrangements because she believed it was a "front" for those seeking to restrict access to abortion, attacked what she said was the government's preferred option, a voluntary registration scheme for abortion counsellors. | Abbott, who resigned in January from a cross-party group considering options to alter pregnancy counselling arrangements because she believed it was a "front" for those seeking to restrict access to abortion, attacked what she said was the government's preferred option, a voluntary registration scheme for abortion counsellors. |
| Other options discussed by the group included retaining the status quo and a more radical option to prevent abortion providers from also providing counselling services. | Other options discussed by the group included retaining the status quo and a more radical option to prevent abortion providers from also providing counselling services. |
| "The government is proposing a voluntary registration scheme for providers of abortion counselling, opening up the system to any organisation, including those which are opposed to abortion in principle," said the MP, who has secured a Westminster Hall adjournment debate next Tuesday on a forthcoming consultation arising from the cross-party group's discussions. "This is fundamentally inappropriate and threatens genuinely informed consent." | "The government is proposing a voluntary registration scheme for providers of abortion counselling, opening up the system to any organisation, including those which are opposed to abortion in principle," said the MP, who has secured a Westminster Hall adjournment debate next Tuesday on a forthcoming consultation arising from the cross-party group's discussions. "This is fundamentally inappropriate and threatens genuinely informed consent." |
| Meanwhile, reports by the Care Quality Commission on its unannounced inspections of more than 300 abortion clinics in England last month on the orders of the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, are to be published in May. | Meanwhile, reports by the Care Quality Commission on its unannounced inspections of more than 300 abortion clinics in England last month on the orders of the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, are to be published in May. |