Calls have been made for urgent changes to UK law to recognise the humanity of unborn babies after the government committed to ensuring more compassionate care for families that suffer baby loss. 

The appeal from Right to Life UK was issued after the government announced the introduction of baby loss certificates for babies that die in the womb before 24 weeks' gestation.

The certificates are being introduced in response to the government's Pregnancy Loss Review into how improvements can be made to the care and support received by families that experience miscarriage before 24 weeks.

The certificate is optional and will provide official recogntion of the loss of the child in the womb, although it is not a legal document. 

The government has also committed to reviewing guidance on the handling of remains so that this can be done in a sensitive and dignified way. 

Women's minister, Maria Caulfield, said she had "read with dismay and sadness" about the "lack of compassion" shown to women who had suffered a miscarriage before 24 weeks and how "in some instances, families were not provided the emotional support they so desperately needed".

"We must do more to support those who lose their babies in early or mid-pregnancy," she said. 

Responding to the changes, Right to Life UK Catherine Robinson said the government needed to go further. 

"The loss of every life causes great sadness, no matter at what point this happens. We welcome the Government's increased recognition of the value of life in the womb before 24 weeks through the recommendations laid out in this response," she said. 

"These recommendations however do not go far enough and demonstrate a gross contradiction in the Government's attitude to babies in the womb. Whilst the lives of babies lost through miscarriage are now rightly being recognised, the hundreds of thousands of babies lost to abortion every year in the UK are not.

"In the UK, babies can be aborted for any reason up to 24 weeks and up to birth in cases of fetal disability. It is no surprise that families are not offered emotional support for baby loss before 24 weeks when, in other circumstances, ending a baby's life through abortion before 24 weeks is considered by some as a right rather than a tragedy. Babies lost to abortion are too frequently dehumanised rather than valued.

"The UK abortion law needs to be changed urgently to reflect the humanity of every child in the womb from the moment of conception."