Anniversary highlights government role in abortion history

Today is the 42nd anniversary of the first day of the Report stage of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill, the bill authored by David Steel which became the Abortion Act 1967. The bill was effectively talked out by a small group of dedicated pro-life MPs, who easily managed to keep the debate going until 4pm. Had the Labour government of the day not been persuaded by Roy Jenkins MP, the anti-life Home Secretary, to provide additional parliamentary time, the bill would have fallen on this day. (The full debate can be found here.)