News, weekly update, 6 August

A United Nations body is pressing the United Kingdom to extend Britain's liberal abortion law to Northern Ireland. The Committee for the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) calls for a consultation on the matter and urges the UK: "to give consideration to the amendment of the abortion law so as to remove punitive provisions imposed on women who undergo abortion." [Breaking News, 31 July] Mrs Betty Gibson of SPUC Northern Ireland said: "Repeated calls by the CEDAW committee to liberalise abortion in every country which has ratified the treaty only damage the UN's already-poor human rights record. Nowhere in the treaty is abortion mentioned. The UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child recognises that 'the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.' The law in Northern Ireland upholds internationally recognised human rights by providing legal protection for children before birth. The CEDAW committee has no legitimate interest in abortion law and has no authority to demand that we end the legal protection of unborn children here. In doing so, CEDAW threatens genuine human rights." [SPUC, 31 July]

SPUC has warned of the dangers of a victory for Senator Barack Obama in the US presidential elections. John Smeaton, national director, points out that Mr Obama will resume funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) which supports forced abortion overseas. He writes: "Reinstating funding for UNFPA will gravely damage America's reputation worldwide. Under the current president, the US has done a lot of good work to protect the unborn overseas and an Obama victory would throw all that away. He will also do immense damage in his own country. Mr Obama has said that, if elected, he will immediately sign the Freedom of Choice Act which would enshrine abortion in US law and overturn all state-based restrictions. No wonder the Christian Defense Coalition has called him the abortion president." John Smeaton warns that Dr Condoleezza Rice, a suggested Republican running-mate for Senator John McCain, does not share what is reported to be Mr McCain's position on abortion. [SPUC director, 31 July]

The United Nations general assembly has unanimously approved the appointment as human rights commissioner of a South African judge who may support abortion. [Irish Times, 29 July] Ms Navanethem Pillay reportedly said about her country's constitution: "I wondered why the right to life was stated so explicitly. It is going to open up huge debates on the right of the fetus and so on. ... that is the one clause [the pro-life lobby] are going to latch on to for their cause ...". [LifeNews, 24 July] SPUC's national director writes: "[T]he United Nations' 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child says: 'the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.' If Ms Pillay still has problems with unborn babies' rights, she's in no position to defend them - in accordance with a UN resolution - as human rights commissioner." [John Smeaton, 29 July]

Abortion drugs are being sold on the internet. A survey of people who bought the substances that way suggests that around one woman in 10 needed surgery after taking them. The service reportedly only sends RU486 to countries where it deems the law against abortion to be strict; this includes Ireland, north and south. Women must state that they are less than nine weeks' pregnant. The research on the site's customers was published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. [BBC, 11 July] An SPUC spokesman said: "Not only do these drugs kill the unborn but they are a threat to women's health. Their supply and use could well be illegal in many jurisdictions, even those which permit abortion in approved places. Since the web is global, international effort is needed to stop this morbid, dangerous, trafficking in death."

Almost 1,000 British secondary schools offer so-called sexual health programmes some of which include the provision of morning-after pills, contraception and pregnancy tests. Most secondary school pupils are under the age of consent and some are just 11. Schools were surveyed by the mainly tax-funded Sex Education Forum and a researcher said the results were encouraging. Dr Patricia Morgan, an author on family matters, said condom distribution did not work and urged abstinence education. [Daily Mail, 23 June] Parents are not necessarily involved when pupils use such services and it is possible for schools to refer for abortion secretly. John Smeaton has written about this in his blog. [SPUC director's blog, 23 June]

A doctor in western England who suggested to patients that they should consider alternatives to abortion has been cleared of professional misconduct. Dr Tammie Downes has persuaded some women not to go ahead with terminations. The General Medical Council investigated a complaint after Dr Downes described her views to a newspaper. She reportedly refuses to refer for abortion. [Daily Mail, 7 July]

To subscribe to SPUC's email information services, please visit www.spuc.org.uk/em-signup. The reliability of the news herein is dependent on that of the cited sources, which are paraphrased rather than quoted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the society. © Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, 2012


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