I HAD the great pleasure of opening a child development unit this week. When you see stories about children who benefit from such facilities there are usually certain words attached, like 'brave', 'battling' or 'little fighter'.

The children at the Cleveland Unit don't see it that way. Aged up to five years old, they get on with life and, like all children, have a wonderful sense of fun and curiosity.

As I left the centre, my overwhelming impression was not one of sympathy but admiration for the way the children live life to the full and, of course, admiration for the dedicated staff and the head, Kate Morris.

I couldn't help thinking about these young people as I read about the controversy surrounding the decision to abort a 24-week baby, apparently on the grounds that it had a cleft palate.

The Rev Joanne Jepson has now won the right to challenge in court the decision of West Mercia police not to prosecute the doctors who carried out the abortion.

The current law says such an operation is illegal after 24 weeks unless there is a risk of 'serious handicap'.

It is an issue that provokes passionately held views on both sides. Whilst the Rev Jepson is living proof that the handicap of a cleft palate can be overcome, I do have sympathy for the Herefordshire woman, as yet unidentified, who had the abortion two years ago and now finds her decision debated in depth on TV and across the front pages of the papers.

And I can see, to a certain extent, the point of those who argue abortion is a decision which should be made by the woman concerned - not male-dominated committees who cannot comprehend the forces at work. But what concerns me most about this issue are the repercussions.

We are in danger of opening the door to abortion being allowed at any stage during pregnancy for any reason.

To use the medical term, the advance of medicine means a foetus is often 'viable' if born after six months, indeed children have survived far earlier deliveries than this.

Put simply, medical advance has meant that at 24 weeks we have reached the point where humans can play God; we decide whether a child is delivered or aborted.

If a child can be terminated at six months on the grounds of a cleft palate, what next? A large nose, a missing finger?

Do those who argue it is a woman's right to choose at any time during pregnancy believe that babies should be aborted because of their sex?

What is needed is clarity, definition of what is meant by 'serious handicap'. Doctors work under intense pressure and they need to know where they stand in law.

Society should make that law, not individual medics, otherwise the right to abortion comes down to your postcode or how much you are prepared to pay to go private.

If she has done nothing else, at least the Rev Jepson has bought out into the open an issue that should have been resolved long ago.