Former British Abortion Practitioner Pleads for Late-Term Abortion Ban

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 16, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Former British Abortion Practitioner Pleads for Late-Term Abortion Ban Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 16,
2007

London, England (LifeNews.com) — A former British abortion practitioner is pleading with members of parliament to ban late-term abortions there. Professor Stuart Campbell revealed Tuesday how doing late-term abortions haunted him because the unborn baby is so well developed and he wants abortions prohibited after 20 weeks into pregnancy.

Under current laws in England, abortions are allowed up to 24 weeks in most instances.

Campbell presented MPs with images of unborn children in stunning detail by using 3D and 4D ultrasound pictures.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that his experience as an abortion practitioner has convinced him that the limit is too high.

"When I was terminating late pregnancies I began to get appalled at the thought of the whole procedure," he said.

"I was terminating pregnancies around 20 weeks at one time — that’s what I was trained to do. I always stopped the baby’s heart with an injection but I understand very few hospitals will do that so most babies are born alive," Campbell added.

He said his images of babies in the womb revealed "complex behavioral patterns which really are preparations for the life after birth — facial expressions in response to external stimuli and a sort of crying expression."

"They will suck their thumbs, towards 24 weeks their eyelids start to open, they make breathing movements.

"I feel pretty appalled at the idea that we would abort normal babies. Most are born alive and are just allowed to die."

Professor Campbell added: "The public I feel would probably be appalled if they saw those images."