Family Planning Association has vested interests in abortion industry Belfast, : The Family Planning Association (FPA) has been accused of seeking undermine the law in Northern Ireland in order to advance its vested financial interests in the abortion industry.  

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) said it was disgraceful that the FPA, which receives funding from the Northern Ireland health department, should be conducting a campaign to overturn the Province’s legal protection for children before birth.

The comments were made in response to the FPA’s publication of an opinion poll of Northern Ireland’s obstetricians and gynaecologists, which the FPA claims shows a groundswell of support for a more liberal abortion law.  

Liam Gibson, SPUC’s development officer in Northern Ireland, rejected the significance of the poll saying: "The FPA is considered to be a charity but its number one aim is to promote abortion on demand. Yet it has consistently failed to persuade the people of Northern Ireland to accept the killing of unborn children. "While the FPA claims that this latest survey represents the opinions of obstetricians and gynaecologists, the survey only deals with abortion for social reasons. Medical grounds for abortion are never mentioned, because there is not one medical benefit associated with abortion. There are, however, hundreds of scientific studies showing the damage effects abortion has on women and their subsequent children. Abortion is not healthcare, but a fatal form of child abuse. It is never justified. Northern Ireland has the best maternal mortality rate in the United Kingdom because our law protects both women and children. "The FPA's suggestion that so-called 'abortion charities' should be licensed to carry out abortions in Northern Ireland demonstrates that the FPA’s real concern is its financial interests in the abortion industry," concluded Mr Gibson.