Date published: 2005/03/15
The BBC says:
Tony Blair does not believe abortion should be an election issue, arguing it is a matter for individual conscience. The prime minister's spokesman set out Mr Blair's view after the top Catholic in England and Wales backed Michael Howard's stance on abortions.
The Tory leader supports a reduction in the legal limit from 24 weeks to 20 and has said current rules are "tantamount to abortion on demand".
The prime minister has made it clear he has no plans to the change the law.
Mr Blair's spokesman said: "The Catholic church has a well-known position on this issue and it was one of many issues the Cardinal mentioned and therefore it should be seen in that context."
His words came as Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, backed Mr Howard's stance and distanced himself from Labour.
In a statement, he said abortion was a "very key issue", saying: "The policy supported by Mr Howard is one that we would commend, on the way to a full abandonment of abortion."
Cardinal O'Connor claimed Labour had "developed" the notion that it was the natural party of Catholics, but he said: "We are not going to suggest people support one particular party."
For once Blair is making sense. And as usual Howard is not. (To call the current situation "abortion on demand" is ludicrous.) Some people believe the cardinal should not speak out on political matters, but he is as entitled as the next person to do so. Of course we are also entitled to point out that his views are medieval and should be ignored. Unlike America, abortion is an unimportant electoral issue in the UK, so this is all a storm in a teacup.
_________________________________________________________
All material not included from other sources is copyright cambridge2000.com.
For further information or questions email: info [at] cambridge2000 [dot] com
(replace "[at]" with "@" and "[dot]" with ".").