Family & Life report Oct.20, that Marie Stopes own figures prove that lack of availability of abortion in Ireland does not endanger women's lives
Ireland has long been recognised as having the lowest level of maternal mortality in the world and it is significant that other western countries including the UK and the US have higher levels of maternal mortality. It has been suggested that the higher level of maternal mortality in those countries relates to the availability of so called "safe legal abortion". Unfortunately this cannot be confirmed because these statistics are not presently separated out from the general maternal mortality figures in those countries but clearly this should be done.In its annual report, British abortion provider Marie Stopes International (MSI) admits that its activities in Ireland will prevent no maternal deaths nor will they prevent any “unsafe” abortions taking place. The information is contained in an annex to the organisation’s Global Impact Report 2010. The 70-page glossy publication is intended to appeal to its main funders and supporters, such as the United Nations, the World Health Organisation and the UK Department for International Development.
MSI gets few individual donations, so it has designed its annual report to appeal to big funders who are familiar with what it does. The group operates in forty countries and claims that its activities prevent 13,640 maternal deaths internationally and 1.34 million “unsafe” abortions (mainly in developing countries). In addition to grants from large donors, MSI activities in developing countries are subsidised by profits from its abortion clinics. The group admits to sterilising over half a million women in 2010.
