What we have seen, however, from a US Government hugely in favour of population control, is an extremely embarrassing situation for prominent US politicians such as Hilary Clinton and even President Obama himself, whose support for abortion is no secret.    

Attorney Chen Guang Cheng had been captive in his own home after spending years in prison for his outspoken opposition to forced abortion and sterilisation in his country, but he has continued to monitor and expose to the world the brutal campaigns and victimization of thousands of Chinese citizens to further the Government's anti-life ideology.

The victimisation of Chen Guang Cheng, and his extraordinary heroism,  has placed not just the likes of Hilary Clinton in an embarrassing spotlight, but also many of our own UK journalists (even newspapers!) who are so idealistically committed to so-called abortion rights.  And Marie Stopes International?  It would be interesting to hear from them and their funders, who include the UK Government.

Even Amnesty International, fighting abuse of  human rights on the world stage , has completely glossed over the pro-life background of Chen Guang Cheng.

The ProLife Alliance, when alerted to the boycott, raised similar concerns in correspondence with Pepsi UK & Ireland. 

“We took the matter very seriously,” stated Mr. Boykas, Director Pepsi’s Global Public Policy Unit. “We have an official Statement on Responsible Research and we intend to live by that policy.”'

We congratulate our American colleagues for their hard word and Pepsi for delivering this ethical change of direction.   Consumer power is clearly a force to be reckoned with.

Today several papers reported that BBC Five Live is to interview women and staff in an unnamed abortion clinic next month as part of a two hour programme.  The ultimate taboo in relationship to abortion is not the counselling process with the woman, but the tragic reality of what happens to the unborn child. 

This latest initiative from the abortion lobby will inevitably provide free advertising for the organisation in question which surely cannot qualify as an exercise in objective journalism.

It is notable that supporters of the bill cited misleading research in support of legalising abortion, completely contradicting the fact that Ireland has one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world. 

For the full story see the Irish Pro Life Campaign website. 

Care Quality Commission inspectors visited nearly 300 abortion providers in 3 days and found 50 were breaking the law or regulations.  The inspections were clearly justified and if any public money has been wasted it is through the illegal activities of abortion clinics.

Where else in the NHS if there was compelling evidence of significant abuse of the law would we condemn a prompt response, particularly in such a sensitive area where one of the patients (the unborn child) is likely to be killed unlawfully as a result?

However, most will view this as a positive development.  Doctors may actually be reluctant to perform abortions because they wish to heal people, not to kill.  Is it any wonder that very few doctors will perform late abortions, at a gestational age when the babies are so recognisably human?

Abortion clinics across the country have been exposed, both by a Daily Telegraph sting and by the Care Quality Commission, as falsifying paperwork.  There is also significant under-reporting of abortions, so that it is no longer possible to even believe the figures in the official statistics.

For doctors with guilty secrets, extended scrutiny may seem like a witch-hunt.  But it is very heartening to note that other doctors are becoming increasingly reluctant to take part in abortion.  They have a legal right to conscientiously object, and thankfully more and more are doing so.

The ProLife Alliance is delighted that all those present at the debate were unanimous in their support both of the main motion and also of Fiona Bruce MP’s amendment.

Please see detailed article from Care not Killing, of which the ProLife Alliance is a member.  The whole debate can be viewed on BBC Democracy Live.

It is more than time for an extensive inquiry into the practice of abortion in the United Kingdom, not just focusing on private clinics subcontracted by the NHS, but equally importantly the NHS itself, given that abortions post-24 weeks can only be performed by the NHS.

Recent horrifying research revealed very significant under-reporting of such late abortions, showing sometimes double the figures as recorded in the official Department of Health Abortion Statistics, and the research included harrowing descriptions of babies who had survived the abortions and survived for some hours after, as they were left to die.  This is an aspect of abortion which demands the most transparent levels of investigation.

As does the equally horrifying practice of late abortions taking place in two different countries, starting with feticide in the United Kingdom and the final stage of evacuation occurring in the country of the foreign nationals' origin.  This is not scare-mongering, but accurate information which was revealed following a Freedom of Information inquiry from the ProLife Alliance.  It was disclosed that over a recent 4-yr period 14 Italian Nationals had availed themselves of this protocol.  Such abortions will have been initiated with feticide taking place in NHS premises. It is extremely doubtful that such practice conforms even minimally with the UK Abortion Act. 

We congratulate Andrew Lansley on this very important first step to tighten up on widespread abuse of the Abortion Act.  

Apart from the horror of reading that 16 babies were born alive and left to die in 2006 there are further shocking revelations in this article.  Table 4 shows huge underreporting of abortions post-24 weeks.  Abortions at this late stage are always carried out in NHS hospitals.  The authors of the report show that figures are sometimes twice as high as the official figures.

Rebecca Mallinson from the ProLife Alliance said, if we can’t ensure that such highly sensitive statistics are accurate, what faith can we put in those covering first trimester abortions.