Abortion time limits and fetal viability

That this House recognises that the current 24-week abortion time limit is based on an outdated understanding of the viability of premature babies; that the latest science on fetal viability has changed substantially since the law was last changed in 1990, and that 22 weeks is now recognised by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine as the point of viability outside of the womb and the point at which doctors are enabled to intervene to save premature babies; that the UK’s abortion time limit is later than the majority of countries in the European Union, where the median time limit for abortions on demand or on broad social grounds is 12 weeks; that polling has shown that 70 per cent of British women favour a reduction in the time limit from 24 weeks to 20 weeks or below; and calls on the Government to reflect these changes in fetal viability in abortion law.