By Hilary White
LONDON, April 29, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Although a proposal by Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to permit ads for abortionists and contraceptive companies was to allow for a public consultation until June, the first television ad for the abortifacient morning after pill (MAP) already aired last week.
The cartoon ad that was shown on all major British networks on April 23, shows a young woman waking up and thinking of a broken condom, while a man snores beside her in the bed. After seeing a crying baby on a bus, she visits a pharmacist and is given the drug, sold under the brand name Levonelle.
While the looser advertising regulations are being presented as part of the solution to a widespread teen pregnancy problem in the U.K., many in Britain have strongly criticised the government for attempting to deal with the problem simply by promoting abortion and contraception. Dr. Peter Saunders of the Christian Medical Fellowship described this tactic as “the approach of having the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff to deal with the casualties.”
“The whole approach from Government and officialdom creates an atmosphere where it is seen as acceptable for teenagers to indulge in recreational sex without regard to the very serious consequences in terms of physical and emotional health,” he said.
Dominica Roberts, of the ProLife Alliance, said her organisation is “absolutely outraged” that the ads went forward without waiting for the outcome of the public consultation. Levonelle “is advertised inaccurately as emergency contraception, when in fact its major function is to cause the abortion of an embryo that has already been conceived, not as suggested by the name to prevent conception.”
Director of Northern Ireland’s Precious Life, Bernadette Smyth, called the ad an “outrageous and blatant lie” for presenting MAP as a form of contraception. She said, “Like all the other steps taken to promote so-called ‘safe sex’, this advertisement for the morning-after-pill will be counter-productive and a failure. It will only lead to an increase in sexual promiscuity, thus leading to more unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).”
She noted the irony of the ad’s admission that condoms are a cause of unplanned pregnancy. “With this admission that condoms fail,” she said, “this advertisement for the morning-after-pill is the logical next step.
“However, the morning-after-pill has been proven to have a failure rate of 1 in 4. So the inevitable next step will be advertising surgical abortion for when the morning-after-pill fails.”
John Smeaton, head of the UK’s Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, criticized what he called the hypocrisy of television regulators who restrict advertising for alcohol and cigarettes but promote chemical contraceptives and abortifacients for young women.
He said, “By contrast, morning-after pills, which can lead to the death of innocent humans, are now being promoted like aspirin or indigestion cures. Abortion providers want to advertise on TV too and, rather than sending them away with a flea in their ear, the regulators are patiently holding a consultation on the proposal.”
Marie Stopes, one of the world’s most vigorous promoters of abortion, has said it was “delighted” with the ad. The group’s spokesman, Emily James said, “A condom breakage can be a nightmare for many women. Such adverts will inform and educate women about what to do in this situation. The sooner a woman takes emergency contraception after having unprotected sex, the more effective it is.”
To express concerns to the Advertising Standards Authority:
https://www.asa.org.uk/asa/how_to_complain/complaints_form/
Mid City Place
71 High Holborn
London WC1V 6QT
Phone: (0) 20 7492 2222
Textphone: (0) 20 7242 8159
Fax: (0) 20 7242 3696
[email protected].