A doctor from Yorkshire has criticised proposals to allow abortion facilities to advertise on prime time television. Dr.Pickering warns that such advertisements would add to the already unrealistic images of sex that young people are getting from the television and other media. We all know what he is referring to, the persistent portrayal of sex as consequence free, consisting of "beautiful people jumping in and out of bed" as he puts it, never getting pregnant, never getting diseases and never having to deal with the consequences of abortion.
Dr. Pickering has already been criticised in the article's combox for suggesting that abortion is portrayed as a quick fix solution, but anyone who has ever been involved in post abortion counselling can verify that abortion providers seldom if ever give women accurate information about the possible long-term effects of abortion. A colleague of mine at SPUC stated during a recent radio debate on this issue that advertising abortion was essentially commercialising killing, advertising killing as though this procedure were no more serious than buying a packet of cornflakes or booking a holiday. It represents a new low in British Media standards that the ASA is even considering changing the guidelines.
