Petition Extended: 5 July 2019

Please sign the petition!

Young people deserve to know the truth about abortion. At school they are not always given the facts.

A new booklet titled ‘Abortion and Abortion Care Factsheet’ targeted at secondary schools in England is presenting some inaccurate and misleading information about abortion to
pupils, including:

•  Abortion does not cause mental illness
•  An unborn baby under 24 weeks cannot feel pain
•  Abortion is extremely safe in the UK

Six important facts about abortion many young people won’t hear at school:

1. When human life begins: ‘Human development begins at fertilisation… This highly specialised, totipotent cell marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual.’
2. Unborn babies register pain: This may begin well before 24 weeks. For example, at 16 weeks from conception (18 weeks’ gestation) ‘painful procedures trigger a hormonal stress response’.
3. Abortion and women’s health: Numerous studies show that abortion is associated with mental and physical health problems for women.
4. Abortion and young people: In a study of Canadian university students who had had an abortion, most wanted psychological counselling to deal with the effects. Even those who did not want counselling experienced lingering signs of trauma.
5. Abortion and breast cancer: Every woman needs to know the uncontroversial fact that carrying a first pregnancy to birth protects against breast cancer.
6. Abortion numbers in the UK: In the UK approximately 570 abortions take place every day.

Please sign the petition (to the right, or below on mobile) calling on the Secretary of State for Education to ban the misleading and inaccurate 'Abortion and Abortion Care Factsheet' from secondary schools.

This petition closes on the 5th of July 2019.