PSNI MUST ENSURE BPAS ARE NOT COVERING UP A CRIME
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has launched an information campaign which includes a billboard in Belfast city centre to promote its ‘helpline’ for women in Northern Ireland who have taken illegal abortion drugs.
The ‘helpline’ began in September but the information campaign was launched following the news that a GP reported a mother from Northern Ireland who procured illegal abortion pills for her underage daughter in 2013. On 26th January 2017, a Belfast court granted leave for a judicial review of the Public Prosecution Service’s decision to prosecute the mother under section 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. The judicial review hearing will be on the 3rd and 4th May 2017.
In response to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service’s launch of its information campaign,Bernadette Smyth, the director of Precious Life, the leading pro-life group in Northern Ireland, stated:
“Women and unborn children must be protected from abortion centres like the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and Marie Stopes International, and pro-abortion activists who sell illegal abortion drugs online and instruct women to buy and use these deadly abortion drugs. The aim of their game is to rake in as much money as they can by exploiting vulnerable women.
“Abortion drugs are not healthcare. Abortion is a criminal offence in Northern Ireland which is why we expect the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to intervene if a woman from Northern Ireland were to contact the BPAS helpline after having an abortion. It is in the interests of justice that the PSNI ensure that BPAS are not covering up a crime.
“Women facing a crisis pregnancy do not need BPAS or Marie Stopes or illegal abortion websites. Rather, they need pro-woman organisations that actually care about them and have their best interests at heart. Pro-woman organisations like Stanton Healthcare Belfast are here to help women and to provide the care and support they need.”