Women in developing countries betrayed by international community London, 17th October 2007 - The international community is being accused of betraying women and children in developing nations by ignoring their real healthcare needs and promoting abortion and birth control instead. Pro-life groups are in London for the Women Deliver conference, which deals with maternal and child mortality, and are calling for a radical re-think of the international community's agenda. Pat Buckley of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) said: "Increasing access to abortion does not reduce maternal deaths. Ireland, which has always had a complete ban on abortion, has one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world. It is a fact that, in countries such as Great Britain and the United States, where abortion has been widely available for decades, maternal mortality is significantly higher.* "The developed world has known for the past 50 years what needs to be done to reduce maternal deaths, but instead of meeting the real needs of women, it has promoted an ideological agenda for abortion and population control. "The key to reducing maternal mortality from all causes is the improvement of nutrition, basic health care, prenatal care, and good basic and emergency obstetric care during and after delivery." "Abortion is never safe, either for women or children. It is absurd for the international community to talk about safe abortion when so many women don't even have safe drinking water", concluded Mr Buckley. *Notes for editors: According to World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics: Ireland: 4 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births UK: 11 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births US: 14 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.