Should we protect unborn children?

The subject of abortion has long been a controversial and conflicting one. Policies regarding abortion vary across Europe and all around the world. Within the 27 countries of the European Union, the law extends from abortion being allowed only to save the life of the mother in Ireland to being available on request in countries such as France, Germany and Romania. The UK and Finland offer the option to mothers who are at risk physically or mentally and also for economic and social reasons. The gestational limit for legal abortions does vary within the EU and Malta is the only country to have banned abortion altogether.

With sex education, sexual health and sex in general being more and more openly discussed nowadays; it seemed just a matter of time before abortion would be advertised. In 2009 it was announced that there were plans for abortion advice to be advertised on television and radio in the UK. This was alongside plans to relax restrictions on advertising condoms as part of a scheme aiming to reduce high UK rates of teenage pregnancy and sexual infections.

The Broadcast Committee on Advertising Practice (BCAP) has said that the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health had called for a relaxation of the rules on condom advertising. This came after figures showed that over 11,000 under-16s were diagnosed with several sexually transmitted infections including Chlamydia, herpes and genital warts between 2002 and 2006. Along with this proposal was a chance for pregnancy advice services to advertise for the first time. However, they were informed that such advertisements would have to make it clear whether it referred women for abortions.

Andrew Brown, chairman of BCAP, stated that those drawing up the code aimed to set a high bar for social responsibility. “Our priority is to ensure that the rules remain relevant for the future so that consumers can continue to enjoy and trust the adverts they see,” he said.

So how did thousands of viewers feel when they witnessed the first ever pregnancy services advertisement on 24th May 2010? Shown on Channel 4 some time after 10pm, Marie Stopes became the first organisation to advertise abortion advice and of course it caused controversy.

Marie Stopes is one of the UK’s most well-known providers of sexual and reproductive healthcare services. Founded by Scottish doctor of the same name in 1921, their first ever clinic opened in Holloway, North London and played an important role in dispelling taboos surrounding sex and helped to improve reproductive health. Nowadays their nationwide network of clinics open their doors to over 100,000 men and women each year who seek advice, information and medical care. Working with nearly 70 Primary Care Trusts, Marie Stopes has long been recognised as a professional healthcare service, yet since its first advertisement was aired a few months ago, those who are anti-abortion have felt even more compelled to speak out.

The advertisement itself runs for approximately 32 seconds. It features three women of different ages and lifestyles who are all late and expecting their menstrual period. The advertisement simply reaches out to any women who are late and perhaps pregnant and offers them the Marie Stopes’ telephone number and website, which are sources of information and advice.

“Clearly there are hundreds of thousands of women who want and need sexual health information and advice, and access to services,” Marie Stopes International’s CEO Dana Hovig said. “Last year alone we received 350,000 calls to our 24 hour help line.”

A move to cut down on teen pregnancies?

There has been support for and defence of the controversial advert; with comments that it is a positive move at a time when the UK is experiencing criticism for its teenage pregnancy rates. Michele Tejani, a recently qualified nurse working at her local PCT in Harrow, North West London thinks that advertising abortion is a significant step forward: “On a daily basis at work I am seeing more and more younger children visiting the PCT for sexual advice. This is a shocking sign of the times but at the same time it seems unavoidable,” she says. “Perhaps if teenagers who are sexually active see these types of adverts they will understand the heartache and difficult decision-making that comes with having an abortion, and will think twice about the importance of contraception.”

As well as targeting young people, Marie Stopes are also reaching out to older women who perhaps have already started their family and find themselves in a difficult situation if they’ve fallen pregnant again and feel that they cannot cope. Some women may feel alone at a time like this and may feel they have nowhere to turn or could feel ashamed to visit their GP; this is where advertising pregnancy advice clinics is helpful as it gives women another option to consider.

But do sensible women really need to see an advert on television in order to be aware of the alternative choices? Could the Marie Stopes advert and future advertising be influencing women’s decisions? Anti-abortionists around the UK are evidently against this type of advertising describing it as “unnecessary, utterly grim and deeply sad.” Of course advertising has always been seen as a form of persuasion. Beauty products, flashy cars and sunny destinations are all advertised on television to entice and persuade the viewer to feel like they need this product in their life. But can the same be said for pregnancy advice adverts?

Marie Stopes argue that they are not trying to convince all pregnant women to have a termination. Their advertising is simply just a subtle way of letting females know that there are other options and that they are available to help. But the other side of the debate argues that by advertising abortion clinics, young people are more likely to see abortion as a form of contraception rather than a last resort. The number of females taking the morning after pill has certainly increased over the last few years in the UK as it is so easily available; is this conveying the wrong message to naïve teenagers who are too embarrassed to visit their GP to be prescribed the contraceptive pill? And will advertising abortion make matters worse?

Back in 2009, John Smeaton, the National Director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said that the proposal “threatens to further commercialise the killing of unborn children”. Fast forward to summer 2010 when abortion adverts have been aired on national television and the exact same argument still applies. Abortion is always going to be an option for women across Europe whether it is advertised or not. Perhaps the fact that Britain has the most liberal abortion laws in Europe contributes to the negative discussion surrounding the issue. However abolishing the advertisements isn’t going to change the fact that a woman in the UK can have a termination up to 24 weeks into her pregnancy and it should be recognised that organisations such as Marie Stopes are not trying to trick women into making a particular decision, but are simply letting them know that help is available.

The controversial Marie Stopes advert