There is a real danger that current moves within the UK parliament could soon result in a further attack on women's abortion rights in Britain.
David Steele, member of parliament (MP) and architect of the existing Abortion Act passed in 1967, has said that he is in favour of a reduction in the time limits within which an abortion can take place - currently 24 weeks.
And although Prime Minister Blair appears unwilling for the government to propose any such new legislation he has left the door open for a private members' bill sponsored by individual MPs to be proposed, as early as November.
Taking a decision to have an abortion is never one taken lightly by any woman. This is even more the case for a late abortion.
But there are a myriad of circumstances in which it does end up happening - to young women, for example, who don't realise they are pregnant because of inadequate sex education and to women approaching the menopause who don't notice their pregnancy because their periods have become irregular.
Only one per cent of abortions in Britain today happen after 20 weeks - and the story of each of those is undoubtedly heartrending. But that doesn't stop the anti-abortionists, with massive funding and resources from the Catholic Church, passing judgement - trying to put the foetus not the woman at the centre of the debate.
Anti-abortionists have also been galvanized by advances in medical technology which they argue have rendered a foetus "viable" from a much earlier stage in pregnancy than before. They ignore the right of women to control their own bodies and make their own decisions - always central to the fight for women?s liberation.
All this is happening in an International context where a woman's right to control her fertility is increasingly under attack. Darling of the religious right, George W Bush, marked his first day as US President by passing the "Global gag".
This denies funding to any organization that provides abortion services, lobbies their own government for abortion law reform, offers accurate medical counselling or makes referrals regarding abortion -even if these services form only a part of the work they do and are financed from other sources.
The blood of thousands of women in the developing world who have suffered horrible deaths as a result of backstreet abortions is on his hands.
Britain's1967 Abortion Act was the most progressive in Europe at the time. Today abortion on request up to 12 weeks is available to women in most of the states of the EU and Britain has been left behind.
Others lagging behind are Ireland, Poland and Portugal -the states in which the influence of the Catholic Church is strongest. At present abortion in Ireland may be performed only where continuation of the pregnancy poses a real and substantial risk to a pregnant woman's life. The situation in Ireland also has a direct impact in Britain as nearly 7000 women travel to Britain for abortions each year.
Backed by a large body of public opinion the pro-choice movement in Britain is campaigning for abortion on request but it must now gear up for the immediate fight to defend existing rights.
This is particularly important because it has been 17 years since these rights were last under threat and several generations of activists - the generations of the anti-globalisation and anti-war movement - have not had to mobilise on this particular question. But the involvement of young people, and young women in particular will be essential to build a strong movement once again. • Contact: ww.abortionrights.org.uk or Tel 020 7278 Rav Smith