No plans to cut abortion time limit, says Cameron David Cameron said there are no plans to bring forward any legislation on changing abortion time limits. Photograph: Andrew Winning/PA David Cameron has insisted the government has no plans to change the law to cut the time limit on abortions from 24 weeks to 12. But he did say he would support calls for a smaller decrease in the abortion limit should the issue come up for a vote in parliament. His comments came after the newly promoted health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said he was in favour of cutting the current time limit for women to have abortions in half. He claims that evidence suggests 12 weeks in the appropriate time restriction but insisted his beliefs were not based on his religious values. But the prime minister said on Saturday that he did not agree with the health secretary's position and there were no plans to bring forward any legislation on changing abortion time limits. He said Hunt was entitled to his own opinion, adding: "He is a member of parliament, he is absolutely entitled to hold an individual view, a view of conscience and on this issue all members of parliament - prime ministers, health secretaries, everybody - has to vote according to their consciences. They are totally entitled to hold that view but people need to know the government has got no plans to bring forward any legislation in this area and any vote that does happen will be a free vote. The prime minister added that he was in favour of a smaller decrease in the abortion limit. I personally have voted for a modest reduction from the current limit of 24 weeks because I think there are some medical arguments for that. But I don't agree with the 12-week limit and that's not the government's policy," he said. His comments came just days after Maria Miller, the women's minister, backed calls for a reduction in the legal limit for abortions. The home secretary, Theresa May, also spoke out on the issue on Saturday, saying she believed there was scope to reduce the limit on when a termination can take place, to 20 weeks into a pregnancy. In an interview with the Times, Hunt said there was evidence to suggest that the abortion limit should be reduced, adding: "I'm not someone who thinks that abortion should be made illegal. It is just my view about that incredibly difficult question about the moment that we should deem life to start. He added: "I don't think the reason I have that view is for religious reasons." His comments have been welcomed by pro-life campaigners who insist that the current abortion laws are out-of-date and technology shows that at 12 weeks an unborn child is capable of sustained movement. A Life spokesman, Mark Bhagwandin, said: "The UK's abortion laws are antiquated and fail to take into consideration a modern reality in which it is easy to establish as biological fact, the humanity of the baby inside the womb. In the age of information it is hard to hide this fact. It is therefore no surprise that most people, especially women, in this country support a reduction in the time limit on abortion in the UK. But the health secretary's views have caused concern to women's rights activists who warned that a reduction in the time limit could effectively prevent testing for conditions such as Down's syndrome. Professor Wendy Savage, a gynaecologist and campaigner on women's rights, said: "The number of abortions that take place over 20 weeks is very small. Of those a considerable proportion are of foetuses which have got a congenital abnormality. I think the majority of the population think that if somebody has got a foetus that, if born, will have a severe disability they should have the right to choose whether or not to continue with that pregnancy. Diane Abbott, who is Labour's shadow public health minister, accused ministers of "playing politics with people's lives," insisting there was no justification for a reduction in the present limit. "We're seeing a sustained ideological attack on the science, and the rights that British women and families have fought for," she said. Late abortion only affects a small number of women, who are often in extremely challenging circumstances. There were nearly 190,000 abortions for women in England and Wales last year. The figures, from the Department of Health, also suggest the vast majority - 91% - were carried out in under 13 weeks.