Abortion vote heralds ‘family values’ test for Cameron

Campaigners for tighter restrictions in the abortion laws are promising to come back to the issue after the general election in a bid to overturn last night's vote for a retention of the status quo - a 24-week upper time limit for women to have abortions.

Nadine Dorries, the Tory MP and former nurse, has vowed not to give up her battle to reduce the upper time limit. She made an impassioned speech with grim details about a 'live baby' that was aborted, an act she described as 'murder'. "I would hope there is a change of government and things will be slightly different," she said.

David Cameron could now come under pressure from campaigners to commit to another free vote after the general election if the Tories form the next government.

Dorries's hopes were raised by the lead taken by Cameron himself, who voted for a reduction in the upper time limit from 24 weeks to 20 weeks and for the alternative amendment of 24 down to 22 weeks, both of which were defeated.

However, Cameron has to be careful. He could be seriously embarrassed by any pressure for a Conservative 'moral majority' in the Commons. His allies fear it could revive unhelpful memories of the 'back to basics' image that backfired for John Major's government.

The guffaws that greeted Sir Patrick Cormack's high Tory views - in discussing the issue of lesbians receiving fertility treatment - about the 'normal' family being a 'husband and wife' are a chilling reminder for Cameron of how easily the Conservatives could appear out of touch with 21st-century moral values.

However, there is a majority on the Conservative benches in support of a change in the law on a range of moral issues and this could make it difficult for Cameron to fight the election without 'family values' becoming an issue.

The reduction in the upper time limit from 24 weeks to 22 weeks was defeated by only 71 votes, compared to majorities of more than 100 votes against the other amendments. After the general election, with 100 or more Labour MPs (many of them women, who voted en masse for the status quo) gone from the backbenches if the Tories enjoy a solid victory, anything could happen the next time abortion is debated.

The support for retention of the status quo was helped by a BMA report suggesting that there was no medical evidence that babies are surviving at an earlier age. Gordon Brown also gave a lead in rejecting a reduction in the upper time limit.

However, Kevin Barron, Labour chairman of the Commons select committee on health, admitted that things could change after the general election, although he personally supported keeping the 24-week limit. He believed it would depend on whether scientific advice changes. "We should be driven by the science," he said, "not by some of the debate we had last night."

Cameron may not want to get bogged down with abortion and gay rights if he forms the next government, but his supporters who want to see a return to family values know there are plenty of ways of forcing these issues onto the Commons agenda, either by tabling Private Members' Bills, or by tacking amendments to the law onto government Bills, which is how last night's votes took place.

THE MOLE: ABORTION LAW

LAST UPDATED 9:55 AM, MAY 21, 2008