Donald Trump has been attacked by both pro-life and pro-abortion groups over his latest comments
: Both pro-abortion and pro-life groups have attacked US presidential hopeful Donald Trump for his comments about punishing women for abortion.
Commenting on the attacks, Paul Tully, General Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said:
"The media circus is unhelpful. It detracts from the reality that women are punished for abortion - psychologically and physically - whether it is legal or not.
"The baby killed in abortion is the mother's own flesh and blood, her own baby. Abortion kills hope. Abortion kills motherhood. There is no punishment for her worse than that.
"Many women suffer years of grief, mourning and sorrow for the loss of their babies and related mental ill-health. In Scandinavia they found a six-times higher rate of suicide among women who had abortions compared to those who gave birth. Women suffer the physical aftermath too, including permanent damage to their reproductive capability - premature delivery of subsequent babies, stillbirths and infertility. Medical evidence suggests a link between abortion and breast cancer, though some experts deny this," continued Mr Tully.
"Most women who submit to abortion do not have the support of a husband or anyone else who will help them through their pregnancy and help them raise their baby. The experience of pro-life groups that offer women help to avoid abortions is that women do not want abortions. But abortion providers, including Britain's leading commercial abortionists, want new laws to stop pro-life groups offering women alternatives.
"In Britain abortions are legally permitted if the woman's health is more at risk from the pregnancy than from an abortion. But the Department of Health and key medical bodies ignore the medical evidence and impose tight deadlines on GPs to try to force them to refer women for abortions rapidly. As a result, instead of getting help, women are routinely referred for abortions illegally," Mr Tully concluded.
Notes for editors
Suicides after pregnancy in Finland, 1987-94: register linkage study, Gissler M, et al, British Medical Journal 1996; 313 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.313.7070.1431
Re premature delivery after abortion, see for example: Induced Abortion and Subsequent Pregnancy Duration, Zhou, W et al, Obstetrics & Gynecology: December 1999 - Volume 94 - Issue 6 - p 948-953
Re breast cancer, see for example: A meta-analysis of the association between induced abortion and breast cancer risk among Chinese females, Yubei Huang et al. Cancer Causes & Control, February 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2, pp 227-23