Don't abort babies over 13 weeks, say seven in 10 women

It also found nine out of ten want doctors to be legally obliged to offer counselling and alternatives to abortion for pregnant women seeking a termination.

Around eight out of ten said there should be a compulsory cooling-off period between the point when a woman learns she is pregnant and an abortion.

The huge majority among women in favour of tighter curbs on abortion comes in the wake of evidence that foetuses in the womb are recognisable even at an early stage of pregnancy.

Medical breakthroughs also mean doctors can regularly keep alive babies born at 23 weeks.

There were a record 200,000 abortions in Britain last year and both anti- and proabortion groups are preparing for a major political fight this autumn as the Abortion Act, the law which first allowed legal terminations, reaches its 40th anniversary.

The opportunity for a parliamentary battle which will either tighten or liberalise the law has been thrown up by the Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, which will be open to amendments applying to abortion when it comes before MPs in coming weeks.

The survey for the anti-abortion campaign group Life pointed to growing unease at both the number of abortions and the stage of pregnancy at which they can be performed.

According to the poll, 68 per cent would like to see the upper time limit cut back to 13 weeks, the European average.

Support for a cut in the time limit breaks down as 72 per cent of women and 65 per cent of men.

Around two thirds of those who are content with the level of 200,000 abortions a year still support a cut in the time limit.

The poll found that more than half - 55 per cent - say there are too many abortions and numbers should be reduced.

Women, young people aged under 24, and pensioners are most likely to back abortion reductions, the survey of 1001 people by the respected polling group ComRes found.

Eight out of ten said abortion law should be regularly reviewed to keep up with changes in our understanding of how babies develop.

Seven in ten support a rule which would allow doctors, nurses and other health work-ers the right to refuse to sign abortion forms or assist abortions where doing so offends their ethical views.

At present, a doctor who refuses on grounds of principle to approve an abortion is required to pass their patient on to another doctor who does not have ethical objections.

There are no rights of refusal for other health workers.

The run-up to the 40th anniversary of the Abortion Act on 27 October has already produced political fall-out.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales, has told MPs that those who support abortion rights should not have the right to call themselves Catholics.

That has put immense pressure on 70 Catholic MPs.

Two senior Catholic bishops have also publicly resigned from the human rights pressure group Amnesty International over its recent decision to back abortion rights.

Pro-abortion groups hope to use the debates this autumn for liberalisation of the law. Possibilities include removing the need for each abortion to be approved by two doctors or making abortion available on demand.

At present, the law says abortion can only be performed to meet the physical or mental health needs of the pregnant woman or her other children.

s.doughty@dailymail.co.uk