A former international abortion worker, now pro-life advocate, has been appointed as Executive Director for SPUC.

Kevin Duffy spent six years as a director and consultant, responsible for the development of abortion centres in Africa and South Asia with Marie Stopes International (MSI) - now MSI Reproductive Choices.  

SPUC is thrilled to announce that Mr Duffy will be joining SPUC’s team as Executive Director (Research and Education) and is certain that his unique insight and expertise will help to ensure that full legal protections are restored to unborn children. 

Questioning the motives of the abortion industry

Reflecting upon his time with MSI, Mr Duffy describes how he “always knew that abortion involved taking a human life but I felt, at the time, confident in the belief that women would undergo abortions regardless, so it was better for these to take place in hygienic and safe conditions”.

Mr Duffy watched many abortions carried out by MSI clinicians and occasionally he would think to himself: “When I came into the room there were four people present and now there are only three.”

However, when MSI began to change its approach to abortion delivery by promoting self-managed DIY drugs, Mr Duffy felt deep concerns regarding the safety and wellbeing of women, and he began to question the motives of MSI. 

Mr Duffy said: “From about 2015-2016, MSI began to emphasise a strategic push towards self-managed medical abortion, supplying abortion drugs through pharmacies. 

“I was never a supporter of this, preferring instead for women to receive, what I considered at the time, comprehensive care in-clinic. Across the abortion sector, there were and are many reports raising concerns that increasing numbers of women are presenting with incomplete abortions at facilities after self-administering abortion pills which they had bought in the local drug shops.” 

Parting ways with the abortion industry

Mr Duffy parted with MSI in March 2019.  

In the spring of 2020, the announcement that women in the UK could get abortion drugs through the post prompted Mr Duffy to conduct a mystery client project which exposed the lack of safeguards and recklessness of the UK’s DIY home abortion scheme. 26 sets of calls were made across BPAS, Marie Stopes and the National Unplanned Pregnancy Advisory Service, resulting in 26 packets of abortion drugs being sent out to women who essentially did not exist. 

After six years working at the heart of the abortion industry and being responsible for the provision of abortion, Mr Duffy says he was shocked by the results of the mystery client exercise. 

Mr Duffy said: “To think that after just two phone calls taking no more than an hour in total, a woman who doesn't exist, is not pregnant, is not registered at the recorded GP surgery, who misleads the service provider about her medical history and her gestational age, even changes her gestational age mid-process, is able to obtain the abortion pills, a service for which the abortion provider is paid by the NHS. And they called this a fantastic advance in women’s healthcare. 

“Women are not being well served and are missing out on essential clinical assessments. They are left to manage the expulsions on their own at home—and with no follow-up care afterwards. This is a long, long way from the comprehensive, safe abortion care that the abortion industry claims to provide.” 

Ensuring that the abortion industry is defeated

Commenting on his recent appointment, Mr Duffy said: “When I finished with MSI, I considered walking away from the issue of abortion entirely.  

“However, I decided to put my knowledge and experience at the service of the pro-life movement. I am certain that the false narratives of the abortion industry which claim to ‘care about women’ can be defeated and a culture of life which truly cares about the wellbeing of women and safeguarding of human rights can be restored.  

“Working inside the world’s leading abortion giants has exposed to me the violent nature of abortion and the cold and callous ways in which patients can be regarded. Joining SPUC, the UK's largest pro-life group, presents a great opportunity for me to play my part in ensuring that the abortion industry is defeated, and that one-day abortion will be rendered unthinkable."