ABORTION (No. 2)

That this House notes that when in 1966 the then honourable Member for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles, now the noble Lord Steel, introduced the current abortion law, he was promised support, and subsequently given extra time, by a government which was predominantly pro-abortion; notes the parallels today which are shown by the fact that in 1990 14 out of the 20 honourable Members of the current Cabinet voted for abortion on the signature of one doctor allowed only to verify that the pregnancy had not exceeded 12 weeks, and that 16 out of 20 voted for abortion on the signature of one doctor in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy under the present statutory grounds; notes that, nonetheless, the Government claims to have no policy on abortion legislation, a claim undermined by the Secretary of State for Health, the Right honourable Member for Holborn and St. Pancras, in his statement that he wishes to find a Labour backbencher to bring forward his proposals - proposals, this House notes - which conform withofficial Labour Party policy as set out in Health 2,000; and calls on the Cabinet either to have the courage to defy public opinion by introducing as a Government Bill the legislation proposed by their Health Secretary or to promise the nation that they will take no action to weaken the minimal safeguards in the current legislation.