Dozens of campaigners for a pro-life group engaged in a roadside demonstration in Reading last Saturday.

Volunteers for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) lined Kings Road in Reading from 10am to 12pm on Saturday, April 23.

The group held banners urging couples to ‘choose life’.

The demonstration was led by members of the congregation of the St William of York Roman Catholic Church in Upper Redlands Road.

READ MORE: Reading local elections 2022 battlegrounds and key clashes

The demonstration took place as part of a 'pro-life chain'. 

Explaining the reason for the campaign, an SPUC spokeswoman said: "The SPUC Pro-Life Chain is the annual outdoor roadside witness, which commemorates the lives of unborn babies killed by abortion since the implementation of the Abortion Act on 27 April 1968.

"Since then, more than nine and a half million babies have lost their lives to abortion. Countless mothers have suffered."

Pro-life campaigners recently suffered a defeat when MPs voted by 215 votes to 188  to extend medical abortions at home.

The home abortion procedure involves taking the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, which work together to expel the contents of a woman’s uterus and end a pregnancy.

Berkshire’s eight MPs were divided on the issue, with Theresa May, the Conservative MP for Maidenhead, Laura Farris, the Conservative MP for Newbury and Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading East voting for the home abortion extension.

Meanwhile, Adam Afriyie, Conservative MP for Windsor, James Sunderland, the Conservative MP for Bracknell and Sir John Redwood, the Conservative MP for Wokingham all voting against extending home abortions.

No vote was recorded for  Alok Sharma, Conservative MP for Reading West and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, the Labour MP for Slough.

READ MORE: How your Berkshire MP voted as Nationality and Borders bill goes through Parliament

Abortions from home were introduced on March 30, 2020 as an amendment to the Abortion Act 1967.

The abortions could be obtained via a ‘teleconsultation’ rather than a face to face consultation.