Edited 9/6/12 at 4:03 EST
LONDON, September 4, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The legal attack by abortion giant Marie Stopes International on the Good Counsel Network, a group that aids women in crisis pregnancies, has failed to meet the minimum legal procedures required in a civil suit. On those grounds alone it will likely be summarily dismissed, the Good Counsel’s lawyer has said.
The high-powered legal group Kirkland & Ellis International LLP has continued to send letters directly to Good Counsel staffers, demanding that they cease handing out a leaflet on the medical and psychological consequences of abortion, accusing them of distributing “false and misleading” information.
Neil Addison, head of the Thomas More Legal Centre and an expert in religious discrimination law, has responded to the latest letter, calling their threat of denunciation to the Advertising Standards Authority and the courts “fatuous” and the actions of Kirkland & Ellis “peculiar”. In documents made available to LifeSiteNews.com, Addison instructed the legal firm to cease communicating directly with Good Counsel, saying that deliberately continuing to write to the Lilliputian non-profit group rather than their legal representative is a serious breach of normal legal practice
Addison told LSN that the lawyers for MSI have simply declared that the information on the leaflets was false, but have failed to say why or present any arguments to which a defendant could make a considered response. The solicitors for MSI have also failed to follow the normal legal procedures for bringing forward a civil case. For these reasons alone, a court would throw out the case.
Addison told LSN, “I do not believe that this is anything other than an attempt to intimidate a small pro-life charity by making vague threats of litigation.”
“I am concerned that what the Solicitor’s letters are designed to do is preliminary to Marie Stopes waiting for, or provoking, an ‘incident’ during 40 Days for Life so as to provide them with an excuse to bring legal proceedings or report Good Counsel to the police by alleging that Good Counsel are distributing leaflets that are in some way illegal,” he said in an email.
In their latest letter, Kirkland and Ellis wrote, “This Leaflet continues to be distributed on a regular basis and contains the same misleading information or claims as noted before in the [previous] Letter.
“In particular, the Leaflet claims, amongst other things, that abortion can result in breast cancer and the inability to become pregnant in the future. Likewise, the possible psychological implications of abortion set out in the leaflet are also misleading.
Kirkland & Ellis continued with the threat, “If you do not stop distributing the Leaflet within ten working days (10) days of the date of this letter, MSI is considering making a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority [ASA] and the courts on the basis that the information published in the Leaflet regarding the physical and psychological implications of abortion is misleading or false.”
The presumption that the information in the leaflets about the medical risks of abortion was inaccurate is the foundation of the abortion industry’s claims. On Marie Stopes International’s FAQ page, they respond to the questions about medical risks, infertility and breast cancer, saying, “There is very little risk associated with early abortion and no evidence at all that a straightforward abortion has any effect on future fertility or any other aspect of general health.”
They continue: “There is no proven link between abortion and breast cancer.”
But Addison says that in their legal action against Good Counsel, MSI is begging the question, that merely asserting that the information is untrue is not proof. He wrote to Kirkland & Ellis, “The medical and other evidence regarding the effects of Abortion is complex and contentious with a large number of medical and scientific reports reaching different conclusions on the issue.”
Moreover, he said, the threat to refer the leaflets to the ASA is “either laughable or dangerous”. He cited the case of the conservative political blogger, known as Archbishop Cranmer, saying that it has not been the first time the ASA has been used to attempt to silence conservative Christian citizens.
“Frankly the ASA has neither the jurisdictional power nor the professional competence to decide whether Good Counsel or MSI are right concerning the effects of Abortion,” he continued to Kirkland & Ellis.
“Good Counsel is prepared if necessary to defend before the ASA or a court everything said in its leaflets the contents of which are based on solid scientific study and on the testimony and experience of many women who have had abortions.”
He pointed out that the ASA has no jurisdiction over leaflets distributed as part of a protest or demonstration, which is MSI’s own description of the Good Counsel’s activities. If the British Trades Union Federation, TUC, were to hand out leaflets protesting a government policy, he said, “are you seriously suggesting that the Government could report the TUC to the ASA because the Government disagreed with the TUC’s analysis as to the consequences of the cuts?”
Addison commented to LSN, “I wonder if there is now a new front in the Freedom Wars where the supporters of abortion, same sex marriage etc. are trying a new tactic of making references to the ASA as a way of intimidating and silencing those who disagree with them.
“I am happy to have the opportunity to challenge that but I recognise that for small charities and groups such as Good Counsel threats of litigation are extremely frightening so I am glad that I and my trustees created the Thomas More Legal Centre in order to defend these types of case.”