'Right' to help abortion?

A BRITISH charity insisted yesterday it had done nothing wrong in referring women abroad for late abortions.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service helps hundreds of women to have terminations after the United Kingdom’s 24-week limit.

Health Secretary John Reid has asked to see evidence secretly recorded by reporters.

The anti-abortion Society For The Protection Of Unborn Children called for a probe.

But BPAS chief executive Ann Furedi said it would be "morally reprehensible" not to help clients get treatment in Spain and the US.

She said: "There is nothing we are doing that is unlawful. We are providing women with international contacts to clinics that provide abortion services."

BPAS is responsible for a quarter of UK abortions. Three in four are funded by the NHS.

A Spanish clinic is said to have admitted aborting foetuses up to 30 weeks old , revealing some of its work was "not completely legal".

Dr Reid said: "If there is evidence that the will of Parliament is being thwarted and that the law of a fellow European country is being broken by an organisation in receipt of public money this would be a very serious situation."