Marie Stopes launches new campaign to target youth

Abortion clinic chain Marie Stopes, in partnership with tertiary institutions and the Department of Health, is launching a campaign aimed at  ‘indoctrinating schools, colleges and universities about sexuality, contraceptives and abortion under the auspices of “reproductive health”,’ reports Africa Christian Action (ACA).

Leader of Marie Stopes’ Blue Light Campaign, Ndi Mumbengegwi, says in a media release that she is excited about the roll-out of ‘exciting, fun and interactive campus activations’ that speak to youth about their sexual health. According to its website “Marie Stopes South Africa is passionately pro-choice” and supports “a woman’s right to choose to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, young people’s right to exercise their sexuality and every individual’s right to live their sexual life safely and freely regardless of their sexual orientation’. 

Marie Stopes also recently launched a slick new TV advert campaign to recruit nurses to work at their abortion clinics, says ACA. The TV ad has aired on Soweto TV, Bay TV in Port Elizabeth, and Cape Town TV.

Abstinence advocates have pointed out that explicit sex education and the promotion of contraceptives has actually increased promiscuity and the consequent prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections and teen pregnancies in areas where these campaigns have been promoted, writes ACA.

Marie Stopes is an international abortion organisation that grew out of the early 20th century eugenics movement. It operates in 42 countries. There are 626 Marie Stopes abortion clinics worldwide, including 29 in South Africa. In 2009, Marie Stopes SA launched 10 micro-clinics, offering contraception and abortions in townships in Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal.

Marie Stopes carries out over a third of the officially recorded abortions in South Africa. Conservatively, their gross income is estimated at more than R160 million a year, reports ACA.

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On top of their large profits, Marie Stopes International (MSI) receives funding from the Netherlands Ministry for Development Cooperation, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). UK Department for International Development, USAID and the European Union to expand their abortion clinics in Third World countries. Their international website says that they performed 4.5 million abortions worldwide in 2011.

After the lift of the ‘global gag’ rule (Mexico City Policy) by the Obama administration, the US government now donates money to the International Planned Parenthood Association and Marie Stopes. The profits earned from abortion clinics in First World countries also go towards expanding MSI’s influence and impact in poor communities.

ACA urges teachers, pastors and youth leaders to educate youth on the sanctity of life and the consequences of abortion by inviting speakers from Africa Christian Action, Concerned Young People, and Crisis Pregnancy Centres. ACA pro-life resources can be downloaded here. It also says that  Doctors for Life (mail@dfl.org.za) or Hospital Christian Fellowship are available to present workshops for doctors and nurses on pro-life issues and legal rights regarding participating in abortions.

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