"Human life is sacred. To create it in order to use it for research purposes and then to destroy it must be anathema to any society which claims to value humanity," she said. Her comments came after Gordon Brown bowed to pressure to allow MPs to follow their conscience, agreeing to a free vote on controversial embryology laws after objections from key Labour figures and church leaders.

First Minister Ian Paisley also warned the government not to support any attempt by MPs to use its Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill as a " backdoor" to legalising abortion in Northern Ireland.

Former Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan said the general view of people in Northern Ireland was that they did not want to see the virtually unrestricted abortion of unborn children.

"Northern Ireland now has its own elected assembly. We have come through 40 years of murder and mayhem to a fragile peace. In these circumstances, shortly before Northern Ireland takes responsibility for matters of policing and security, there should be no attempt to change the law in Northern Ireland. Leave this for our elected Assembly. Everyone wants to see advances in medical research which will enable the treatment of terrible terminal illnesses such as Motor Neurone Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. I have seen people for whom I cared deeply die of both these illnesses. They are terrible. The creation of human-animal embryos to be used for research purposes and then destroyed cannot be the way in which research to counter such disease should be conducted."