Pro-lifers have called on the Isle of Man to avoid the “dark road” of British-style abortion on demand. The appeal was made as the island’s parliament prepared to liberalise its abortion laws. The Humanity and Equality in Abortion Reform (HEAR) group said there were numerous flaws in the proposed plan. The change, it said, would allow abortion on demand for any reason up to 14 weeks, including formally legalising sex-selective abortion. The group also said the bill would informally allow for abortion on demand up to 24 weeks through vague “health” and “social” grounds, thus enabling sex-selective abortions up to the third trimester. The bill would also allow abortion for disability up to birth, thus worsening disability discrimination, the group said. Situated in the Irish Sea, roughly half-way between Britain and Ireland, the Isle of Man is a crown dependency that is not formally part of the United Kingdom. The island maintains its own parliament and legal system, although it has the Queen as head of state, and relies on Britain for international relations and defence. The island has much stricter abortion laws than the UK. Abortions are only legal if the pregnancy is the result of rape, or because of mental health concerns. HEAR spokeswoman Sue Richardson said the draft bill would “worsen inequality and discrimination in the law, and coarsen and dehumanise our medical system”. “The Isle of Man does not need abortion on demand,” she said. “That is the dark road down which Britain went, and from which we learnt. “What we need is to be even more the caring and compassionate society we have always been by rejecting British-style abortion, and better supporting pregnant mothers and their unborn children.”