Graphic abortion film on Channel 4

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A graphic film of an abortion which includes previously banned images of aborted foetuses will be broadcast later this month, breaking one of television's

Channel 4's My Foetus shows a woman who is four weeks pregnant having a vacuum-pump abortion. The results of a similar procedure are shown to viewers, who will also see pictures of foetuses aborted at 10 and 21 weeks.

Similar images were banned when the Pro-life Alliance tried to broadcast them as part of an election broadcast in 2001.

Yesterday the head of legal affairs at Channel 4, Prash Naik, said this time the images would be shown in the context of the wider debate.

"The pro-life film contained 23 images, many repeated in a four-minute film," he said. "This film uses four images in a 30-minute film which care fully explains the issues. It is very, very different."

The programme will be broadcast late at night, and preceded by warnings.