The ProLife Alliance condemns proposals by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), reported widely by media including The Telegraph, and Daily Mail which will allow pro-abortion organisations to advertise abortion and condoms on prime time TV and radio and give Britain among the world’s most liberal broadcasting regimes on sexual health services. BCAP is launching a 12 week consultation on the proposals.
Allowing abortion organisations to advertise abortion trivalises the seriousness of abortion, and treats abortion in a promotional and misleading manner. These pro-abortion organisations have no track record of providing factual information about the unborn baby’s development, what the abortion procedure really entails, the medical complications for women, or any objective or practical support to help women continue with the pregnancy.
In the context of our own freedom of information battle to get the Department of Health to publish abortion statistics, it is extraordinary to have Government bodies enthusiastic about allowing abortion clinics to advertise, when the DH is so reluctant to release accurate abortion statistics and the reality of abortion is constantly withheld from the public.
The proposals are clearly biased in favour of pro-abortion groups (who are given free rein to advertise and have a financial incentive to do so, and are in receipt of public funding) and is biased against prolife groups which offer women support and counselling but do not refer for abortion, as the proposal states that pregnancy advice services must “make clear if they do not refer women for abortion.” The proposal states “That information is important because, for those women who opt for it, delay in performing an abortion could result in medical complications.” However, there is no similar requirement for pro-abortion organisations to be equally explicit that they offer no alternative except abortion. In our experience, many women end up in the hands of the abortion providers imagining that they will receive objective counselling and be pointed in the direction of alternatives as well as the abortion clinic. Women have the right to know that the organisation only offers abortions and offers no other alternative.
It is little wonder that the proposal is so biased when the groups behind this are revealed. The Mail reports that the review was launched in response to a request from the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV, or IAG, set up by the Government in 2003. At least eight of the IAG’s 27 members, who are nominated by ministers, are involved in proabortion groups or have worked in NHS regimes providing abortions. The chairman is the president of the pro-abortion Family Planning Association, Baroness Joyce Gould. The IAG has previously called for tests on sex for children as young as five and members have lobbied for women to have abortions at home.
Labour has spent £300million on trying to reduce teenage pregnancy by handing out contraception and expanding sex education. Their policies have clearly failed as abortions are increasing. The answer is not more pro-abortion propaganda, but real information about the reality of abortion, in terms of its impact on the baby and women, and real support to help women continue with pregnancy.
Nadine Dorries MP has commented on her blog:
“The proposal for abortion clinics to be able to advertise on TV is just plain sick. We have the highest number of teenage pregnancies and the highest number of abortions in Europe. The objective should be to reduce this statistic not spend money in a manner which minimises the seriousness of such a procedure.
I am quite sure that any adverts will depict smiling pretty nurses, gleaming reception areas and leafy car parks. They will not in any way show the fear, anguish, isolation, or subsequent depression. They will not highlight the conveyor belt, the general anaesthetic or the risk. And there is absolutely no way the advert will let the viewer know that even the those most committed to having an abortion feel a desperate sense of emptiness when they surface from the anaesthetic and cry the inevitable lonely tears. Abortion is a danger to women’s health, it carries risk and consequence.
The darkest secret is the fact that an abortion industry has hi-jacked a misguided ill informed feminist agenda and then used it as a vehicle upon which to exploit vulnerable young women in order to increase profits. TV advertising is the next level up in this process. Who is behind this? Who thought advertising a procedure which ends life in a clinical, surgical manner made good sense and for what reason?”
** Make your voice heard – Submit your opposition to pro-abortion advertisements before 5pm on Friday 19 June 2009.**
The consultation is wide-ranging but the relevant section is on page 90, which states: “BCAP proposes to include a rule on advertisements for post-conception pregnancy advice services. BCAP considers that rule should fulfil two policy objectives: (1) to allow post-conception pregnancy advice services the freedom to advertise and (2) to ensure that advertisements for those services make clear whether the service refers women for abortion.” This gives abortion providers incredible freedom to advertise on TV, when the truth about abortion has never been shown on TV.
Points to raise:
- Advertisements have a duty to be truthful and transparent. Abortion providers should be deemed in breach of this duty if they omit key facts about the baby’s development, how abortion is carried out, and the implications for women. They should not present abortion in a euphemistic or promotional manner, or a manner which misleadingly implies that they offer any help or support to women wishing to continue their pregnancies.
- Abortion has serious implications for women’s health. The psychological and physical impact of abortion should not be trivialised by advertisements.
- No organisation should be allowed to use public money to advertise for abortion.
- The reality of abortion should not be presented in a demeaning manner. Ending a child’s life should not be reduced to another consumer choice. Abortion is not a proper subject for advertisements. It should not be advertised alongside a packet of crisps.
- Given the widespread opposition to abortion, and the fact that pro-abortion organisations do not offer positive support to women with their pregnancies, they should not be able to advertise on either radio or TV.
- Abortion providers should not be allowed to advertise abortion at any time on TV when the advertisements may be viewed by children.
The full consultation is available here. Email your response on a word document before 5pm on Friday 19 June 2009 to BCAPcodereview@cap.org.uk
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April 1st, 2009 at 6:33 pm
During a visit to India I met with a very large number of LIVING abortion survivors ..they`d been rescued from local abortion mills. The only reason for the abortion? They were female!
*MARIE STOPES INTERNATIONAL*,a British based killing machine,was the ONLY abortion mill I saw advertising in the area.
Although there are a staggering half a million plus LATE TERM abortions of baby girls every year in India…the procedure for this sex selective purpose is illegal.
Seems MSI is above the law?!
April 10th, 2009 at 11:18 am
I think it’s rediculous that abortion is going to be promoted asif it’s something nice when in reality it destroys not only the babies life but the mother’s too usually. I wouldn’t apreciate being misled by these ads. i think if i had an abortion, i would be filled with guilt afterwards and some kind of emptiness, not just phisically. If these ads are going to be shown then i think we need to all do something to fight back and show people the price you pay for having an abortion. Other than the reasons i already mentioned i personally think abrotion is murder and that God made the boy or girl for a reason and i’m sure it wasn’t created to be killed.
April 13th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I think this is disgusting!
This is too sickning and disturbing for words.
It just goes to show that the morals of this country have gone down the toilet.
May 6th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I fully agree with all of the above comments above.Abortion is MURDER and will always be MURDER.
In a civilized society there is no place for abortion.We must stand up against this violent barbaric killing of innocents and make our voices heard.Also we DO NOT want to see abortion advertised on our TV screens in a trivialized consumerism manner…THIS MUST STOP.
Joan Ghali Northern Ireland
May 8th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Yet another misleading headline… “pro-abortion advertising universally condemned”! universally condemned by who!? the pro-life alliance… that hardly constitutes universal!!
It was not so long ago that the Pro-life alliance was seeking to show a party political broadcast containing graphic images of abortion on tv… funny how the Prolife Alliance deemed that to be suitable to screen on tv and yet a simple advert for an abortion clinic is suddenly totally unsuitable viewing!
May 9th, 2009 at 7:21 am
The proposals for pro-abortion advertising were universally condemned – if you read the coverage in the newspapers at the time when it was announced.
There is a huge difference between the ProLife Alliance broadcast and pro-abortion advertising. The ProLife Alliance aimed to raise public awareness about what abortion is – this is completely legitimate in a democracy, wherever you stand on the actual issue. The public have a right to know, and women have a right to know what this choice involves.
Pro-abortion advertising on the other hand is based on promoting abortion, and will not tell the public or women anything about the procedure. The killing of an unborn baby is not a legitimate subject for an advertisement. Advertisements are appropriate in the context of buying a product. An abortion is not a product that can be bought. Any information about abortion should be accompanied by factual information about the development of the baby, the reality of how abortion affects the unborn baby, and alternatives to abortion, abortion should not be presented as a legitimate choice. We should be seeking to help women continue with pregnancy, not misleading women about the reality of abortion or making abortion as easy as possible.
May 9th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
You state “the ProLife Alliance aimed to raise public awareness about what abortion is – this is completely legitimate in a democracy”. Equally could it not be said that in a democracy women should be free to decide whether or not to continue their pregnancies, as they are the best placed to decide what is right for them.
I agree that there should be help available for women who wish to continue their pregancies. But forcing people to continue a pregancy that they feel unable to cope with or that they do not want is not a solution.
You also mention the medical complications associated with abortion. In the vast majority of cases, particularly with early terminations, there is far greater risk to the woman in continuing with the pregnancy than terminating it. Childbirth itself is not without risk.
May 10th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
I disagree with you Caroline – women have many rights but terminating a life is not one of them. The better option for all involved is help and support for women to continue with the pregnancy.
May 25th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
The notion that it is riskier to have an abortion than to complete a pregnancy is rot perpetuated by those in the business of giving abortions. When crossing the road there is a small risk that one MIGHT get struck by the number nine bus. But one wouldn’t THROW oneself under the wheels of the number 9 and say, oh, well, there was a small risk I might have been hit anyway. Might as well have jumped.
It really irritates me that the (alleged)risk of complication in carrying through with a pregnancy is used as some sort of justification for abortion.
June 16th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Life is precious at whatever stage … it makes me sad when I have so many friends who are childless and would dearly love a child. Adoption is a lengthy process and is not always successful. People should think before embarking on relationships which could lead to an unwanted pregnancy. Abortion scars many women for years to come. It is not the easy option ….
June 17th, 2009 at 9:07 am
It is disgusting. It is against the morals,
ethics and against the will of God.
The people who are supporting this bill should not invite rage of the Almighty just to attact voters to be in power for a few years. They should think that what are they going to leave for generations to come. I understand such laws have already contributed towards the destruction of family system and marriage institution directly or indirectly.
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:23 am
What is really disgusting is the prejudices on this website. A woman’s body is hers. To suggest terminating a collection of cells with no feeling or self-awareness as murder is ludicrous. Thank goodness my friends will support me if I ever get pregnant. As far as I’m concerned, terminating a pregnancy is no bigger a deal than flushing waste down the toilet. Wake up and stop judging people.
June 27th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Lisa – how can you say that ‘terminating a pregnancy is no bigger a deal than flushing waste down the toilet’ — you wouldn’t be here if you had been flushed down the toilet, how can it be right to treat another human being in a way that you would not want to be treated yourself??
June 28th, 2009 at 3:07 am
I had a termination 5 weeks ago and I have been incredibly naive. I took one days holiday off work to ‘get over’ the anaesthetic. I’ve not been back to work since. The physical effects are long gone but emotionally I am a mess and it’s affected every part of my life form work to my personal relationships. Before all of this I was a confident, outgoing, independent woman but now I feel like I’ve lost all my confidence and can’t get back to normal. I never thought a termination would affect me like this ( I can’t bring myself to say the word abortion) and I’ve been turned upside down by my emotional response. I’m mourning a baby that I chose to abort and I’m crying whike I write this having visited several abortion websites this evening. I seem to be gaining something formtorturing myself. I feel particularly agrieved by the whole process which I found completely efficent in terms of speed and information but severly lacking in terms of emotional support. I was struggling with my decision from the outset and at every stage of the process I was distrssed and crying out for counselling. In fact I asked for counselling on several occasions only to be directed to my GP. At no stage was I counselled through the process and I felt that it was all too easy. But is that the way it’s suppoosed to be?? Did nobody care about my baby exceot me? I know it was my choice but I really wnated some support and guidance. I’m sure I’ll recover in time and I’m now recieving counselling but termination is certainly not an easy way out
June 28th, 2009 at 3:12 am
For everyone that says that abortion is wrong – have you ever found yourself in that situation? Right then – Enough said.
Until you’ve been there you can’t possibly comment.
July 1st, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Unless you go through the situation you have no write to comment, would you rather a women brought a child into the world, a crack addict,a undernourished child?? You cannot say what you would do unless you are in that situation.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
reading some of these comments i am starting to get very angry! my finance was adopted from birth because him mum gave birth to him at the age of 15, she had her whole life ahead of her and wanted to enjoy it and couldn’t cope with the responsibility of a child so young. did she take the easy way out? no she didn’t there is always an alternative if you don’t want or cant keep the child. he has the ultimate respect for his birth mother for in his words ‘being a real woman who instead of thinking only for herself like most girls nowadays, she actually gave a damn for me’. i hope to meet his mother someday to thank her because without her i wouldn’t have my finance whom i am eternally grateful for.
July 11th, 2009 at 8:38 am
Congratulations Emily on your engagement! You make an excellent point. I feel the same way about my husband – the way we feel about those we love and how perfect and irreplaceable they are, points to how precious and irreplaceable each human being is. Wish you both a very happy wedding and future together!
July 11th, 2009 at 8:54 am
I completely disagree with the point Tina makes when she says that people have no right to comment unless they have been in this situation. Of course everyone has a right to oppose abortion based on the facts!!!! That’s how law is made in this country about what should and shouldn’t be legal! You don’t have to be a victim of crime to have a view that something is wrong!
It is a baby’s life that is at stake!! As a society, everyone has an opinion where a human life is at stake – it doesn’t matter if you haven’t been in a situation, you can still think rationally!
I want every woman to have support and help to continue with pregnancy. I want every obstacle and barrier to continuing with the pregnancy to be taken away. I want women to be given financial and emotional support. I want women to be given facts about the baby’s development. As a taxpayer, I don’t want to have anything to do with paying for abortion on the NHS.
In a democracy, believing those things is my right. Ironically abortion was made legal by a majority of male MPs. They had no experience of abortion or pregnancy either!
July 11th, 2009 at 9:05 am
I’m so sorry for your experience Penny. Your comments are completely heart rendering. My heart goes out completely to you. I wish there was something I could do to help you. I don’t think anyone could read your comments and not feel completely saddened by your experience.
It seems to me that in the abortion debate, often the voice of women who regret the decision isn’t heard enough.
There are thousands of people in the public who want change – better support for women and alternatives to abortion and less of the automatic conveyor belt to the abortion clinic.
Society is completely letting down women.
July 11th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Having had a termination myself, a lot of Penny’s comments struck a cord with me – it was almost like reading about my own experience. But whilst I very much regret getting pregnant in the first place and finding myself in such a difficult position, I don’t regret my decision to have the termination as such. On the contrary, in many ways it has strengthened my view that abortion should be available – I don’t know what I would have done if it hadn’t been an option.
I totally agree with you Kate that there should be support for women to continue with a pregnancy, but I also think there are certain barriers that can’t just simply be taken away. Every individual woman’s situation is different and whilst continuing the pregnancy might be the best option for one, having an abortion might be the best option for another.
Whilst I agree that everyone is entitled to hold an opinion, I do think that having been in that position does give you a perspective that you perhaps can’t fully understand unless you’ve been in that situation yourself.
July 12th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Interesting to hear your view Caroline.
You say you don’t know what you would have done if abortion hadn’t been an option – was there inadequate support available to you? What are the barriers that couldn’t be taken away?
What would have enabled you to have continued with the pregnancy?
I note you say that having an abortion might be the best option – but what about the baby? Abortion can never be the best option for the baby.
July 13th, 2009 at 9:06 am
I wanted to bring up a child in a loving family with 2 parents. Having studied and worked hard I wanted to be independent – not having to rely on handouts from the state or my parents who were approaching retirement. These things couldn’t be overcome.
In my opinion, to think solely in terms of the support available is overly simplistic – there are so many factors involved, just because someone has sufficient financial and emotional support doesn’t suddenly turn an unwanted pregnancy into a wanted one.
I personally don’t believe that real life begins at conception and therefore in my mind, it was a question of doing what was best for me.
July 14th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
It might be not ideal to rely on handouts – but abortion ends a child’s life – that seems to me far more serious. It’s great to have goals – who doesn’t want to be independent and have a great career? But surely it is wrong when this involves killing an unborn child? And anyway, why should continuing with a pregnancy be a negative? Why don’t women demand more?
Life does begin at conception. It’s a biological fact. When would you say life begins if not at conception? 12 weeks? 14 weeks? 16 weeks? 20 weeks? 24 weeks? Any point after conception is arbitrary. No one has more human rights today than they did yesterday. Time doesn’t make a difference. Human rights are absolute.
August 26th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Well said Samantha on July 14 2009…….
I completely agree with your above comments Life does brgin at conception and would add…In a civilized society surely the most fundamental Human Right of all is the Human Right of the child to life……in other words a Right to Life itself for the baby concerned.
May 20th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
For a mum to kill her own helpless baby that she is suppose to protect, while it is growing inside of her womb, and have its poor little lifeless body sucked out of her must be the sickest thing in the world. And so are the people who try to justify it. Especially this one here:
Lisa Says:
“A woman’s body is hers.. As far as I’m concerned, terminating a pregnancy is no bigger a deal than flushing waste down the toilet. Wake up and stop judging people”.
How about if your mother had decided you were worthless waste and flushed you down the toliet???
The life inside of you is not yours to kill. A human deserves human rights from the moment it is conceived.
A woman has no more right to kill the individual growing inside her body than a person would have to murder a visitor inside their house. The argument that a woman has the right to control her own body is ridiculous, because the baby, while INSIDE her body and connected to it is NOT her body.
And a fetus is not a “blob of tissue,” it is a human being in a certain stage of development, which will be born a fully grown baby in a mere few months. Babies, toddlers, school-children are at a certain stage of development not yet fully grown, that is not a reason to terminate their lives. Thats the reason to nurture and care for them as they grow into successive stages of life. Same with an unborn child.
May 27th, 2010 at 10:23 am
It is my belief that eeryone is entitled to there own beliefs and after all the lord gave us all free will no matter how we choose to live our lives. I myself do not believe in abortion as all women have been given the greatest gift of all to have a new life growing inside of us, which no man will ever understand or will know the feeling. I am very sadened by the amount of abortions that go on in the world today and it is the responsibility of all christiens to pray for this crime against god. I myself became pregnant before becoming catholic and kept my child. I have never regreted my choice and adore my son with all my heart. He is my whole life and i try to bring my son up with a good catholic home and try to explain to him about the values of living a good catholic life and living for our faith and family.