FACTBOX-Abortion and the law

LONDON (Reuters) - On the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act, the issue is rising up the political agenda again.

-- The Act arose out of a private member's bill by former Liberal Party leader David Steel and for the first time provided a legal defence for those performing abortions in England, Scotland and Wales.

-- It does not apply to Northern Ireland where restrictions are much tighter. Many women have come over from there to the mainland for abortions.

-- It meant abortions could be carried out up to 28 weeks after conception provided two doctors agreed. The limit was reduced to 24 weeks in 1990 and the operation had to be carried out by a doctor in a government-approved hospital or clinic.

-- Steel himself has called for the time limit for "social" abortions to be cut to 12 weeks. "When we introduced the Act, it was always the intention that the operation should be carried out as early as possible," he told the Scotland on Sunday newspaper in 2004.

-- In many countries in continental Europe, abortions on demand are available up to 12 or 13 weeks into pregnancy.

-- Pro-abortion campaigners want the law to be changed to make it easier for women to have terminations. They want to see the two-doctors rule scrapped and medical staff other than doctors able to carry out the operation.

-- Anti-abortionists point to medical advances which mean that babies born before 24 weeks' gestation can now survive and that some go on lead normal lives. They either want the limit lowered or the Act scrapped altogether, making abortion illegal again.

-- A total of 193,700 women in England and Wales had terminations in 2006, a 3.9 percent rise on the previous year.