Communications Officer Chris Joyce comments on BPAS’ current smear campaign to oust pro-life MP Maria Caulfield from public office.
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The UK’s largest abortion provider, BPAS, is running a smear campaign against pro-life MP Maria Caulfield.
The pro-abortion charity is incensed that the former nurse has been selected as the Minister for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy, a role that covers women’s health and, therefore, abortion.
It is urging abortion activists to contact the Prime Minister to call for her sacking and claiming thousands have already done so.
Safety
In their letter to Rishi Sunak, BPAS claims that Caulfield’s appointment is “an absolute slap in the face to the women of this country and suggests a complete disregard for their needs.”
Calling for a #VoiceForChoice, BPAS complain that Caulfield is a self-declared “voice for the unborn” voted against the permanent introduction of DIY abortion in England and against the implementation of censorship zones outside abortion facilities.
These aren’t things to complain about. DIY at-home abortions have been proven not to be safe! They have resulted in 1 in 17 women ending up in hospital and a significant rise in ambulance call-outs. Surely, it’s best to have a Minister for Women’s Health who cares about women’s health and their safety.
On the other hand, BPAS’ own abortion facilities are regularly reported as inadequate and requiring improvement by the independent watchdog, the Care Quality Commission.
Censorship
As for buffer zones, hundreds of women have taken up offers of support outside abortion facilities with hundreds of babies being born as a result. Alina Dulgheriu is one such woman. Part of her story highlighting the life-saving support she received was read out in parliament last month as MPs voted in favour of censorship zones:
“The day I made my way to the abortion facility was the darkest day my heart has ever known. All I needed was help until I gave birth. A lady and a leaflet. That’s all it took. Right there at the steps of abortion centre. From all that darkness, at last I felt hope, I felt for the first time that my child was wanted, not only by me, but also by complete strangers. For the first time, I felt that I was not walking alone on the day I was meant to end the life within me—my child. I cannot express the joy and how fulfilled I felt as a woman, as a mother, to be given the chance to have my child. A just and caring society doesn’t criminalise people for offering help to vulnerable mothers.”
A real #VoiceForChoice wouldn’t suppress offers of support, emotional and practical, outside abortion facilities.
BPAS campaigners claim to want a #VoiceForChoice; it is clear that they really want a #VoiceForAbortion. I’d rather have Maria Caulfield, a Minister for Women’s Health, who is in favour of women being offered support and life-saving choice outside abortion facilities.
Who really speaks for women?
BPAS’ larger claim is that Caulfield “…does not speak for women, and is in no way an appropriate Minister to oversee this vital aspect of women’s healthcare.”
Yet again, the BPAS campaign is wrong and completely out of sync with the majority of women on this issue.
Polling on abortion shows:
- 60% of the general population and 70% of women believe that the current 24-week gestational limit for abortion should be reduced. BPAS want to see abortion fully decriminalised, a move which would remove all time limits and allow abortion on-demand right up to birth
- 93% of women agree that a woman considering abortion should have a legal right to independent counselling from a source that has no financial interest in her decision. BPAS strongly campaigned against an amendment to the Health and Care Social Bill 2011 which would have secured this right for women.
It is likely that Caulfield speaks for more women than BPAS.
History of targeted campaigning
This isn’t the first time BPAS has attacked Caulfield. In 2018, the abortion provider complained that the Conservative Party had appointed Caulfield as the Vice-Chair for Women.
They failed to get her sacked then.
Let’s pray they fail again.
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