Girls as young as 14 are to be told in a new video that having an abortion is their ‘right’ and is unlikely to cause them emotional or physical problems.
The pro-abortion group FPA (formerly the Family Planning Association) is promoting the video to schools with a leaflet telling teenagers that warnings about the negative consequences of abortion are just ‘myths’.
“Women may feel relieved, have mixed feelings or feel sad. Only a few women experience long-term psychological problems and those women who do often had similar problems before pregnancy,” it reads.
But earlier this year the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) warned that having an abortion can damage a woman’s mental health. The RCP said women should be warned of the risks before proceeding.
The FPA video, entitled Why Abortion?, features a number of scenes where women played by actresses explain why they decided to have abortions.
It also shows a group of schoolgirls from Northern Ireland – where abortion remains illegal, despite the FPA’s attempts to lobby for a change in the law – discussing the women’s choices.
In the video the majority come down on the side of the women’s ‘right to choose’, claiming abortion is safe and legal and that religious leaders should not “moralise or dictate” on the issue.
Julie Bentley of the FPA said the video “will provide an excellent starting point for a discussion around abortion issues and will give people the chance to explore the many reasons why women may choose to have an abortion”.
But it has prompted criticism in Northern Ireland where campaigners say it promotes abortion and could mislead young girls.
This is the latest controversial resource to be promoted by the FPA, which is also responsible for the sex education comic book for six-year-olds, Let’s Grow with Nisha and Joe.
The FPA is a vocal member of the sex education lobby which pushed for compulsory lessons for all school children from primary level onwards, plans which the Government has now accepted.
Commenting on the video, Norman Wells of the Family Education Trust said: “They are not doing women any favours by pretending that abortion is a simple and safe procedure that rarely leads to lasting trauma.
“A casual attitude towards abortion is the inevitable fruit of a society that has made an idol of sexual pleasure and failed to respect its proper place and purpose in the context of a lifelong marriage.
“The truth is that every abortion involves a personal tragedy for a mother and a child, which will have lasting consequences, whether immediately felt or not.”