The proposal to allow abortionists to advertise on television in Britain and to allow condoms to be advertised at any time of day, will “contribute to a further ‘normalization’ of abortion” and “encourage the sexualizing of children,” according to a recent statement by the Catholic bishops’ conference. Other objections to the proposal have come from doctors and MPs who say that the ads will do nothing to lower the teen pregnancy rate.
Labour MP Jim Dobbin, who brought an Early Day Motion against the proposal to the House of Commons, said that the makers and promoters of the ads have a “vested interest” in seeing them reach the airwaves. A group of doctors have said that the ads will encourage young people to take up more causal sex and look upon abortion as an easy “quick fix.”
The U.K.’s Advertising Standards Agency made the proposal to allow the abortion and condom ads on the advice of the Government’s sexual health advisory group, who said the ads could help lower teenage pregnancy rates. Public consultations ended on Friday.
A group of 13 MPs have signed Dobbin’s Early Day Motion (EDM) that argues that government’s efforts to lower rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases by providing ever-increasing and more explicit sex-education have had the opposite of the desired effect. It “calls on the Government to encourage more normal lifestyles with deferment of sexual activity among under-age children and adolescents rather than introducing measures that will further sexualise them.”
The EDM says, “Despite the Department of Health doing more than any other government body in Europe to promote abortion and contraception, the rate of under-age conception in this country continues to increase and is the highest in Western Europe.”
Jim Dobbin said the ads will do nothing more than fill the pockets of abortionist and abortion campaign groups like the Family Planning Association, Brook and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, who already receive large grants from government, “to provide contraception and abortion to unmarried young people including under-age children, often without parental knowledge.”
At the same time, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales issued a statement on Monday to a public consultation committee on the proposal, saying, “Abortion is neither medicine nor a consumer product.”
“Presenting it as either of these erodes respect for life, and is highly misleading and damaging to women, who may feel pressured into making a quick decision which can never be revoked.”
The bishops added, “Allowing broadcast advertising of abortion services would contribute to a further ‘normalization’ of abortion and its assimilation to a consumer service.”
Despite government spending of over £280 million on sex education and contraception in the last ten years, Britain has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in Europe. It was recently revealed, moreover, that while contraception is touted as a means of preventing abortion, over half of British teen pregnancies end in “termination.” The Labour government recently announced plans to impose compulsory sex education in all schools in all grades from primary to the end of secondary levels.
A group of physicians are expected to present their objections to the ad proposal at a meeting of the British Medical Association next week. Dr. Mark Pickering, a York GP who represents the group told the Daily Mail, “We know that TV is a powerful medium which gives young people messages that sex is fine, sex is great and they are not getting enough of it.
“It is full of beautiful young people jumping in and out of bed with each other.
“Allowing abortion services to advertise on TV would then be saying, ‘Here is a quick medical fix for the consequences of having sex.’ That is giving all the wrong messages and is very disturbing.”
A ComRes poll of churchgoers among Catholic and Protestant denominations found that most, including 66 percent of evangelicals, believe the ads would cause pregnancy rates to increase.
