British Abortion Business Accused of Promoting Illegal Abortions in Spain 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 12, 2004
London, England (LifeNews.com) — A leading British abortion business has been accused of helping women obtain illegal late-term abortions in Spain. As a result, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which performs nearly 25% of all abortions in England, is under investigation.
The revelations came to light after an undercover newspaper reporter taped recorded conversations showing BPAS referring women who were past the 24-week British abortion limit to a Barcelona, Spain abortion facility.
UK Health Secretary John Reid has asked to review the recordings and pro-life groups are calling on him to fully investigate the matter.
An unnamed spokesperson for the British Department of Health the The Guardian newspaper, "If there is evidence that the will of Parliament is being thwarted, and in addition the law of a fellow European country is being broken, by an organization in receipt of public money, this would be a very serious matter indeed.
Ann Furedi, chief executive of BPAS, which receives taxpayer funding from the British government, said the abortion business was not breaking the law.
According to the Birmingham Post newspaper, Furedi said BPAS was "simply providing women with international contacts to clinics."
Pro-life groups in the U.K. want BPAS to be completely investigated.
Paul Tully of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) said the BPAS situation "demonstrates the attitude of abortion providers to the law — illegal late abortions are being done on purely social grounds."
"Under British law, a second doctor’s opinion is required to authorize an abortion. We would like to know just how independent the second doctor is," Tully added.
Tully said the BPAS actions puts women at risk.
"The question many will ask is: do BPAS and the Spanish abortionists care at all about the women involved," Tully asked. "Late term abortions are known to be a high risk for the mother. Yet, no one appears to be taking responsibility for aftercare for these women."
Patrick Leahy, director of Student LifeNet, agreed.
"How ironic, that those campaigning for abortion to prevent alleged illegal abortions are the very people providing them," Leahy said.
Related web sites:
SPUC – https://www.spuc.org.uk
