Only 0.6 per cent of abortions are carried out between 22 and 24 weeks, she added. More than 50,000 women had terminations in the last quarter for which figures are available, an all-time high.
Howard stressed his was a personal view, with all three parties supporting a free vote on the issue. But Eleanor Laing, the Tory spokesman on women's issues, said that while as a student she had marched for the right to choose, she now supported the lowering of the limit.
"I have always thought that abortion has to be legal and controlled, because there are sometimes tragic circumstances in which abortion has to take place," she said. "But the real question is what is the time limit? I think this is something that the next parliament will have to look at."
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