The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland has spoken out on the "barbaric indifference to the rights of the unborn".

Speaking at the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children Scotland Conference in Glasgow on Saturday, Cardinal Keith O'Brien addressed the erosion of the framework of universal human rights established across the world since the end of the Second World War, which has traditionally included protection for the unborn.

"The harsh reality is that the noble words of so many high blown declarations have been matched with a barbaric indifference to the rights of the unborn," he said.

The Cardinal spoke on the wider challenges facing the pro-life movement in Scotland and describe the vote on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill in parliament on Wednesday 22 October as "a tragedy for our country". MPs approved the HFE Bill, which will liberalise existing abortion laws, by 355 votes to 129 last Wednesday.

"As a direct consequence of this legislation the value of human life will be eroded even further in the United Kingdom," the Cardinal said.

Cardinal O'Brien urged pro-life campaigners to channel their efforts into influencing the views of the electorate as much as elected politicians.

"We can of course rail against the failures of our parliamentarians, in Europe, in London or in Edinburgh," he said.

"We can apportion blame and lament inaction but we must also recognise that those elected by us, in our name, for the most part reflect the society from which they come, they support abortion because society supports abortion, they support embryo experiments because society supports embryo experiments and they support the genetic testing and potential discarding of the unborn because society does.

"Our fight, our battle - your quarrel should not therefore be solely with the elected but with the electorate."