A minute's silence marking the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act will be held in Westminster next Friday 27 October as pro-life supporters plan to gather and mourn the occasion.

Churches around the country are being urged to ring their bells 50 times to commemorate the milestone on Sunday and on Friday evening the Catholic heart of the UK — Westminster Cathedral — is holding a 'Mass and Holy Hour Prayer Vigil'.

Under the hashtag #8milliontoomany, pro-life activists will point to figures that suggest more than eight million terminations have been carried out since 1967.

'Since the Abortion Act received Royal Assent on 28 October 2017, through to 31 December 2016, 8,728,497 babies have had their lives ended by abortion in England, Scotland and Wales and many women have been hurt by abortion,' a statement read. 'This figure is projected to reach 8,894,355 by the end of the day on 27 October 2017.'

Organisers are hoping to enthuse thousands to adopt pro-life banners across their social media profiles as they urged activists to show the strength of their support.

But even within the pro-life movement in the UK there are splits and the minute's silence, originally planned for Parliament Square, had to be moved to nearby Old Palace Yard because organisers wanted to differentiate themselves from another pro-life group who plan to display graphic images of abortions on Parliament Square at the same time.

A weekend of events is planned in London, where MPs in the House of Commons passed the Abortion Act in 1967 that allowed terminations to be carried out under certain conditions.

Cross-bench peer Lord Alton of Liverpool along with Conservative MP Fiona Bruce and other parliamentarians will meet in Westminster on Saturday evening to pray and 'redouble efforts to prevent further liberalisation of abortion'.

The event is organised by CARE, a Christian public policy charity, and chief executive Nola Leach told Christian Today: 'It's important for us to be able to look back at significant pieces of legislation, to see just how they've shaped our society and our culture.

'CARE has always stood up for the most vulnerable in society and we believe that our current abortion laws are not only failing unborn children – but women too.

'This event invites us to continue to speak out about abortion boldly, but with gentleness, compassion and grace. We will praying about the loss of life but also standing alongside women who have been affected by abortion.

'It's important for us to meet together to mark the loss of life, but also be part of the movement for change.'