Religious leaders in Gibralter have been drawn into a divisive referendum on abortion after they grouped together to compare the act of terminating pregnancies to the holocaust.

Gibraltar’s Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities chose the British overseas territory’s Holocaust memorial as the site to launch their “Vote no” manifesto ahead of the March 19 vote.

In comments to local broadcaster GBC, a spokesman for the religious group said that “abortion is a modern-day Holocaust”.

Gibraltar has some of the strictest abortion laws in the world. The practice is currently limited to circumstances where the mother’s life is at risk.

The government of Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has proposed changing the law to allow a woman to undergo an abortion up to 12 weeks into pregnancy if her mental or physical health is deemed at risk – or at a later stage if such damage would be grave and permanent. In cases of fatal physical defects in the fetus, there would be no time limit on termination.

Mr Picardo's government condemned the use of the Nazi genocide to promote the "no" vote, satying the stunt and photo opportunity was "distasteful, disrespectful and unacceptable".

Campaigners from the Gibraltar for Yes! platform said the comparison was an outrage.

“It just shows they’re completely out of touch,” Isobel Ellul from the No More Shame pro-abortion group told The Telegraph.

“They keep on saying it’s not about religion, but they are all men and they have no right to dictate to women about what they do with their bodies. It’s about choice and religion is also a matter of choice.”

Rabbi Ronnie Hasid said he accepted the equation between Jews killed in the Holocaust and abortion, telling the GBC that “a baby is a human life, and in our tradition somebody should prefer to give up his life rather than perform an abortion.”

The ‘Yes’ campaign appears to be surging, with a poll published last Thursday showing 70 per cent intending to vote in favour of the changes.

Women from Gibraltar wanting an abortion usually cross into Spain to do so, but fears that Brexit may lead to a closure of the border have prompted greater debate on the draconian local law that includes a provision for life imprisonment for illegal abortion.

"This was probably one of the most unintended consequences of Brexit: that people suddenly said, well hang on a minute, if people have been going for abortions in Spain what happens if the frontier is closed?" Mr Picardo said in an interview earlier this year.