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British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged politicians and Church leaders not to make abortion an issue in the upcoming British general election.

A spokesman for Blair said that "it would be a pity if this did become a party-political issue, or indeed a general election issue, when that comes."

Recently, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'connor, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, supported the call by Conservative leader Michael Howard to reduce the abortion limit from 24 to 20 weeks.

In a letter asking Catholics to consider important policy issues ahead of the general election, the Cardinal said: "Abortion, for Catholics, is a very key issue - we are totally opposed to it. The policy supported by Mr Howard is one that we would also commend, on the way to a full abandonment of abortion."

He also affirmed in a radio interview that religion should play a more visible role in politics.

"It is wrong to say there is no connection between religion and politics. Religion is concerned with not only love of God but love of our neighbor and therefore love of our neighbor involves all these things," Cardinal O'Connor told the British Broadcasting Company Radio.

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The Cardinal stopped short of an endorsement.

A spokesman for Blair said, "The Prime Minister believes this is a matter for a free vote and conscience on both sides of the House. In his opinion, it would be a pity if this did become a party-political issue, or indeed a general election issue, when that comes."

Meanwhile, Howard said that he had not tried to make abortion an issue, that he had merely replied to a question about reducing the limit for abortions in a Cosmopolitan magazine interview. He also felt that abortion was a matter conscience.