Pro-Life News
12th June 2010: Jim Dobbin MP - Early Day Motion
Jim Dobbin MP is the Chairman of the All-party Pro Life Group in the House of Commons. In the wake of Marie Stopes Advertisements on Channel 4 TV, he has put down the following Early Day Motion
That this House notes that Marie Stopes International (MSI), the international abortion provider, listed as a charity, is held in such high regard by official bodies in the UK that it has been permitted to break the law and advertise abortion on national television;
further notes it has received millions of pounds from the Chinese government to carry out abortion programmes in China, where the one-child policy has caused untold suffering and misery to millions, including forced abortions and sterilisation with imprisonment for those fighting against the law;
further notes as an example a 20-day campaign in April in Puning County, where 9,559 adults were required for compulsory sterilisation with doctors working 20 hours a day to achieve the numbers;
further notes that some 1,300 people were confined by force because their relatives refused to submit to the surgery;
further notes that Marie Stopes claims to disapprove of force and seeks to discourage it, yet gave a red-carpet welcome in their London headquarters to Ms Lin Bin, Minister of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, which is responsible for the one-child policy and its implementation;
further notes that although MSI sought and achieved enormous publicity for its television advertising it was strangely silent regarding the visit of their honoured guest;
further notes this was exposed by Tibet Truth, a human rights organisation protesting about the barbarities inflicted on the people of China and Tibet;
and calls on the Government to withdraw its funds from MSI and to take steps to require the cancellation of its television advertising.
An early day motion (EDM), is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by Members of Parliament for debate "on an early day" (namely an unspecific date in the future). Controversial EDMs won't be signed by Government Ministers, PPS or the Speaker of the House of Commons and very few are debated on the floor of the Chamber of the House
EDMs remain open for signature for the duration of the parliamentary session and give the opportunity for MPs to make their views known. So far only 3 MPs have signed this motion. Do MPs actually care about this? Does your MP care about this? Why not write to your MP via the Parliamentary Website?
27th May 2010: Marie Stopes International - Masters of Spin
The piano tinkled in the background - a gentle mournful air. The girl waited at the bus stop. Was she late? The camera switched to a mum walking her children, one in a pushchair, then another girl leaning the wall of a classroom looking pensive. Finally the punch line - if you are pregnant and don't know what to do, Marie Stopes can help.
You can see for yourself on John Smeaton's blogspot. (You might have to scroll down or navigate to the item for the 24th May)
The advert is clever and quite mendacious. There is no mention of abortion. Yet the vast majority of the income comes from abortion services. Marie Stopes tries to avoid mention of abortion in every way. You have to dig down into their 2008 Financial Statement to find that they boast 592,715 safe abortions world wide in 2008. They received £59,922,000 from Government reimbursement and fees charged for 'sexual and reproductive health services' and spent £53,716,000 on delivery of 'family planning and other sexual and reproductive health services'.
Although Marie Stopes International claims to be a not-for-profit organisation, they manage to obtain a very good lifestyle. In 2008, the top salary paid was over £200,000 and the next two executives attracted £140,000. In all the costs for the 22 most senior staff were almost £2,000,000 and the least of this top echelon received between £60,000 and £70,000 per annum
This is an international corporation run by a bunch of fat cats and is careful to maintain its not-for-profit status. All spare funds (after the fat cats have got their cream) are returned to the company to spread the abortion services throughout the world. As the company expands there will be more cream for more fat cats. No risks are taken because they can always be assured of a steady and growing stream of clients
Being an Abortion Executive compares well with other careers. By comparison, recent pay research shows that the Heads of Universities were paid an average of £219,000 last year (Daily Telegraph 27th May).
Joseph Goebbels would have been proud of them. So also would their founder Marie Stopes, who was very much a Nazi sympathiser, sending Hitler a book of love poems and called for the compulsory sterilization of the lower classes, the unfit, the drunkards and those of bad character.
What can be done? The Advertising Standards Authority has advised that any response to the advertisment can only be made once the advert had been shown. One of our local MPs, Oliver Letwin wanted to see what the response of ASA was before taking further action, though he did undertake to raise the issue with the Minister of Culture, Media and Sport, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt.
You can register a complaint to ASA via an on line complaints form if you click here. The form is fairly easy to fill in. Please watch the advert, write to the ASA and give your views.
If a cigarette producer had run a TV advert with a similar level of ambiguity and deception, there would have been an outcry, and it would have been quickly withdrawn. Likewise, if an advert was offering free gifts and turned out to be a timeshare company, would this have been allowed?
22nd May 2010: Advertising Abortion on TV - Marie Stopes finds a loophole
Marie Stopes International has announced that Channel 4 will broadcast abortion adverts from 24th May. According to the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and other newspapers they are exploiting a loophole in the law which allows them to do so as a ‘Not for Profit’ organisation
When the Broadcasting Committee of the Advertising Standards Authority sought views on a proposal to allow this type of advertising on TV and Radio, parishioners raised a number of points with them:
- BPAS and Marie Stopes perform thousands of abortions each year paid for by the NHS. The extra money to pay for expensive advertising on TV and Radio would no doubt become part of the overhead in running these organisations. This means that it would be found from the charge to the NHS of carrying out abortions. As a taxpayer, not only do I pay for abortions on the NHS, I would also be paying to advertise for them.
- I do not want my TV viewing polluted with people hawking their pregnancy advice (aka abortion services) no matter how ‘tastefully’ presented. And no doubt it will be tastefully presented. All the best advertising brains will be focused on how to present the product. Such advertisements will give a moral equivalence to shopping or buying any other service.
- The ASA believes that advertisements should avoid giving offence. Advertisements by such pregnancy advice services will give offence to me, and to others who have moral and religious principles.
- Advertisements for smoking are not allowed on TV or Radio. So why should advertisements for pregnancy services / abortion or condoms be allowed?
A further point: last year the ASA sought the views of interested organisations and the general public about this issue. Now we find that Marie Stopes have found a loophole. Was last year’s exercise a waste of public money? If not then MSI are breaking the law. If Marie Stopes International are within their rights, ASA are to be censured for wasting public money.
On the Channel 4 website there is a quote that:
The main regulations are the BCAP Television Advertising Standards (TAS) Code and Rules on the Scheduling of Television Advertisements, the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, and Ofcom Rules on the Amount and Distribution of Advertising. These rules are framed to ensure that advertisements are ‘legal, decent, honest and truthful’ and do not mislead, cause harm or serious or widespread offence to viewers.
Does Channel 4 really believe that advertisements of this type are not going to cause widespread offence to viewers?
Last year when the ASA sought the opinions of the populace, it was taken aback by the 40,000 responses it received.
Parishioners who feel strongly about this should write to Channel 4 Chief Executive
Mr David Abraham
Chief Executive
Channel Four Television Corporation
124 Horseferry Road
London SW1P 2TX
Also to write to the Broadcasting committee of the Advertising Standards Authority. The address is:
Advertising Standards Authority
Mid City Place
71 High Holborn
London
WC1V 6QT
E-mail:
Tel: 020 7492 2222
It would be reasonable to ask why they wasted public money last year seeking the views of organisations about advertising these services on radio and TV if Marie Stopes are allowed to do it anyway?
Finally, they need to write or email their local MP, in our case or
The address is
Name of MP
House of Commons
London, SW1A 0AA
Useful Links
Ed West of the Daily Telegraph has an excellent article in his blog of 20th May
The Daily Mail also has an on-line poll. Click here to get to this site where you can cast your vote.
Inform your friends
Download a copy of this article, with its links by clicking here and email it to your friends.
29th April 2010: Assisted suicide - DPP Guidelines Published
Care Not Killing reports that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) published his final guidelines in late February. In summary...
- They no longer suggest that a more lenient view will be taken of assisting the suicide of sick or disabled people
- They no longer give special protection to spouses and family members as assisters of suicide
- They make clear that assistance given by a doctor or nurse to a patient under their care would be regarded as an aggravating factor
Care Not Killing wishes to THANK everyone for taking the time to respond to the consultation. Your action helped improve the guidelines.
You can read full details of the responses to the consultation online.
CNK has welcomed the improvement over the draft guidelines but remains concerned about some remaining flaws and problems, such as how a compassionate suspect’s motives are to be determined in practice.
The test of these guidelines will be their practical application, which CNK will be following with interest. The most important thing to remember is that the law has not changed: assisted suicide remains illegal in the UK.
16th February 2010: Assisted suicide and the BBC
ALERT reports that Ann Winterton MP has tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons complaining at the supposedly impartial BBC's blatant bias is attempting to have assisted suicide made legal.
The motion says:That this House notes that
over the years there have been numerous complaints by Hon. Members regarding the persistent bias of the BBC on matters relating to euthanasia and other life issues and on the manner in which the BBC have misused public funds to promote changes in the law;
further notes the bias of the Corporation applies not only to news programmes but to drama, with thinly-disguised plays and soap operas being used to promote the use of euthanasia and misrepresentation of pro-life activists in the UK as people of violence;
further notes that these presentations have culminated in the last weeks with a multi-million pound campaign featuring Mrs Kay Gilderdale in Panorama and the fantasy fiction writer, Sir Terry Pratchett given centre stage to present this year's BBC Richard Dimbleby lecture calling for euthanasia and supported by the BBC website;
further notes that, as usual the BBC have ignored the rights of the disabled, despite the fact that every disability rights group in the UK is opposed to the legalisation of assisted suicide and euthanasia on the grounds that from experience they know it would undermine the right to life of the disabled;
and calls on the Government to make it clear to the BBC that public funds will be withdrawn unless they abide by the Charter and ensure that all programmes on issues of public interest are treated impartially, and that in particular broadcasters must bear in mind the human rights of the disabled.
Would you contact your MP and ask him or her to sign EDM 787 about the BBC and the disabled?
Your MP's postal address is House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A OAA. You can find your MP's name and e-mail address by following this link
7th February 2010: A Quarterback for Life
Last year, we reported that Jamie Carragher, Liverpool FC’s combative defender had described in his autobiography how his mother refused to have him aborted against the advice of the doctors, who thought that the baby would suffer from spina bifida.
Tonight, at SuperBowl XLIV in the USA, there will be a similar story concerning Tim Tebow, who graduated from college in December and is rated as one of the best young quarterbacks in the country. Tim was born after a very difficult pregnancy in which his mother developed amoebic dysentery and temporarily fell into a coma. The doctors advised abortion, but she refused.
During Superbowl, CBS is scheduled to broadcast a pro-life ad which features Tim’s mother Pam discussing her decision to refuse her doctor's advice. This has caused a furore amongst pro-choice groups in the USA who are lobbying for the ad to be withdrawn. It is not known whether the CBS will bow to the pressure.
We can guess what would happen in the UK if a similar advert were proposed – our TV channels would not touch it.
For a fuller account, navigate to this article in Lifesite News
1st February 2010: Pro-life marches - Media Malpractice
In the previous post, Dr Moynihan reported how the media continues to ignore news that does not match its own world view. Thomas Peters, a young Catholic with graduate degrees in Theology and who works in Washington DC, posts as American Papist . On his site yesterday, he showed the following video of the Washington march.
CNN and Newsweek were singled out as particularly economical with the truth. Their reporters gave equal billing to the handful of prochoice demonstrators that faced an estimated 400,000 pro-life marchers. The other cry was the lack of young women - wrong(!) and the so called predominance of the elderly (also wrong - the proportion was about 10%).
The Narrator concludes that more than any event, this march this proves the eye-popping corruption of the main stream media
The same story was repeated in San Francisco, a city noted for its liberal outlook, where 40,000 pro-life marchers outnumbered the handful of pro-choice demonstrators by about 500-1.
As in Washington, the media tried to spin the story to downplay the pro-life turn out.
22nd January 2010: Huge Pro-Life March in Washington - but ignored by the Media
Dr Robert Moynihan writes a regular newsletter commenting on Catholic News both inside the Vatican and elsewhere. This week he reported on the huge prolife march which takes place in Washington on 22nd January each year. The date is chosen to commemorate the anniversary of the infamous "Roe vs. Wade" judgment which was on 22nd January 1973. Since this ruling, over 50 million babies have been aborted in the USA.
January can be a cruel month in Washington with bitter cold and snow and ice. And it is therefore remarkable that so many people turn up to march to try to convince America's lawmakers and Supreme Court Justices to overturn "Roe vs. Wade" as unjust.
Moynihan says that the prolife march in January is one of the largest public gatherings year after year, always over 200,000 people. This year it looked more like 300,000 and some estimate 500,000. But year after year the march is almost totally ignored by the news media.
Moynihan also feels that the movement has so far lacked an articulate spokesman, but this year a rather charismatic figure has emerged – Professor Robert George, a Roman Catholic who teaches Law at Princeton University. He also co-authored the "Manhattan Declaration" which was signed on 20th November 2009 and has since attracted over 400,000 signatures, mostly in the USA but many overseas.
Professor George was the keynote speaker at the annual Rose Dinner held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill on the evening of 22 January. His speech was a clarion call to the continued commitment to the prolife cause. He criticised actions of both Republicans and Democratic presidents. He had harsh words for the present Democratic president, Barack Obama, who "will continue to try to undermine the pro-life cause." He also said those Evangelicals and Catholics who "abet" the president by arguing that he is in fact "pro-life" are wrong.
He recalled the example of William Wilberforce who was tireless in his commitment to end slavery, though he was branded a "zealot," a "religious fanatic," an "enemy of freedom," someone who was "imposing his religious beliefs on others."
"Sound familiar?" George asked. "But Wilberforce refused to be intimidated."
He cited Mother Teresa, noting that she had said that "prayer is the most powerful weapon." And he noted that she had called on America to be "true to yourself – be faithful to the ideals you have."
"Will we achieve our goal?" he asked. "Will abortion finally go the way of slavery?"
He said he "dared to hope" that "the killing of the unborn" would someday be "not only unlawful but unthinkable."
George concluded: "Let us become finally and fully, once and for all, a nation dedicated to the principle that all men are created equal."
You can read about this and other news from the Vatican by signing up to Dr Robert Moynihan's blog or newsflash using this link to The Moynihan Report