News,
29 July 2011
Dear supporter,
- Keep the abortion peddlers off the screen
- Book now for SPUC’s annual conference
- Ban sexually-explicit videos from primary school – petition date extended
1. Keep the abortion peddlers off the screen
The Broadcasting Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), the body responsible for setting, reviewing and revising the rules for broadcast advertising, has proposed revisions to its old advertising codes. In 2009, according to their website: "BCAP received more than 29,000 responses to its consultation many of which focused on the fact that BCAP has proposed to change the regulatory position on advertisements for post-conception advice services (PCAS) "
BCAP is now returning to the subject of PCAS. All pro-lifers need to be aware of this dangerous development. The new proposals include allowing commercial PCAS to advertise on television, allowing advertising by all those seen as providing suitable credentials, and requiring services to state if they do not refer for abortion.
The proposals would, in practice, ensure that large commercial 'providers' of abortion would be able to advertise freely; while small pro-life organisations wouldn't, either because they couldn't afford it or because they would be excluded as not able to provide 'suitable credentials'. Credentials in all likelihood will include a willingness to refer for abortions. It is telling that abortion is seen, by BCAP, as something so ordinary and mainstream that pregnancy services not offering it are to be highlighted and subject to possible exclusion. I urge SPUC members to get involved and make their concerns known with regard to this pernicious move. Please read and use SPUC's briefing paper on the subject http://bit.ly/peGRZ5 Time is, regrettably, short, but if you want to keep the abortion peddlers off the screen and less capable of poisoning our culture yet further, then please make time to write. Consultation closes Monday 8 August.
2. Book now for SPUC’s annual conference
Please consider booking into SPUC’s 2011 annual conference which takes place from Friday evening, 16 September until Sunday lunchtime, 18 September. The conference venue is the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire. Keynote talks include "The graphic reality of what young children are shown in the classroom" from Antonia Tully, national co-ordinator for the SPUC Safe at School campaign; and "How the pro-euthanasia lobby works" with guest speaker Dr Peter Saunders, chief executive of the Christian Medical Fellowship. Also speaking is the powerful pro-life advocate, Bobby Schindler, the brother of Terri Schiavo. Terri was a physically-healthy woman with a profound brain injury; she was starved and dehydrated by order of a US court and died from severe dehydration on 31 March 2005. The cost per person for a full weekend, including accommodation and meals, is £160 – or £145 if you book before 19 August; for students in full-time education, the cost is £100 and for children aged 8 to 12, it’s £75. For full information contact Katherine Hampton, conference organiser, at SPUC, 3 Whitacre Mews, Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB, or email conference@spuc.org.uk or phone (020) 7091 7091.
3. Ban sexually-explicit videos from primary school – petition date extended
SPUC’s nationwide campaign to ban sexually-explicit videos from primary school is having such a big impact we have decided to extend the closing date of our petition till 15 October 2011 when all petitions will be returned to HQ.
Antonia Tully, who’s leading SPUC’s Safe at School campaign, already has five public meetings between September and early October organized by concerned parents. In November, a group of the parents organizing Antonia’s public meetings will present the petition to Michael Gove MP, the Secretary of State for Education.
The petition cites content from the sexually-explicit DVDs which are part of Channel 4's “Living and Growing” programme for primary schools. Children between seven and nine years of age are shown animations of sexual intercourse in different positions and are told that touching their sexual organs is pleasurable. “Living and Growing”, heavily promoted by local authorities, is the most-widely used sex education teaching resource.
If you are not a SPUC branch officer, and you wish to organize the petition in your area or at your local church, please contact us so that we can help you to do so, either by putting you in touch with your local SPUC branch or advising you how to organize the petition locally and sending you all the necessary materials – petitions, explanatory leaflets, petition guidelines etc. Local branches and others might consider extending the petition in your local area – on the high street, outside a local railway station, or at local churches (with the clergy’s permission of course). Contact tonymullett@spuc.org.uk or phone him on (01772) 258580; or contact SPUC HQ.
Yours sincerely in defence of life,
John Smeaton
National director
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