Marie Stopes Abortion Clinics
Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors have raised “serious concerns” about the safety of mothers at Marie Stopes abortion clinics. Reports revealed shocking scenes and poor standards over an extended period of time. One clinic was found with foetal tissue left in open waste bins which, in addition to the abhorrent moral evil of the procedure, could spread severe infection. And inspectors visiting the charity’s headquarters found evidence of bad risk management, improper methods of client consent and poor oversight of the 60-70 clinics in the UK. Marie Stopes clinics now carry out 70 000 abortions a year (about a third of all terminations performed in England); such is the scale of this horrific practice.
Professor Edward Baker, deputy chief inspector of hospitals at the CQC, said these “serious concerns” had been raised following inspections at 12 Marie Stopes International (MSI) sites between April and August 2016. He added, “Our concerns at a corporate level – particularly around governance arrangements, staff training, and around patient safety and safeguarding protocols – did not give us the necessary assurance that patients would be protected from avoidable harm at all times”. He claimed that one report found 2634 incidents recorded at MSI locations between 2015 and 2016, a rise of 704 from the previous year, and the organisation could give only a “limited” explanation as to why this was so. Professor Baker warned that staff at clinics had “limited training”, and doctors were found to be “bulk-signing” consent forms authorising abortions – apparently indiscriminately.
One mother who visited a Marie Stopes clinic for a termination described how she was treated: “I wasn’t asked at any point if an abortion was what I wanted and why . . . just asked a list of medical questions. I was ‘greeted’ at the actual clinic with a dirty look from a receptionist . . . having to sit in the waiting room and wait for ages till a nurse came and called my name . . . given a form to sign and then given a cup with a pill. Only when I hesitated and started to cry did the nurse finally ask if I was OK and if it was what I wanted.
When I said I wasn’t sure, I was asked to ‘hurry up and make a decision as they had other people to see’. I then said, ‘No’. I somehow managed to get back down the four flights of stairs.” Mercifully this lady did not abort her unborn baby. Truly, “the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel” (Prov 12:10).
At a Norwich clinic, reports reveal that doctors “bulk signed” as many as 60 abortion consent forms at one time, with little indication that they understood the patients’ situation. It is possible they may not even have met the mothers. At another clinic, in Sandwell, West Midlands, inspectors found that the handling of a distressed patient with learning difficulties was “poor and insensitive”; she was “not adequately counselled”. Overall the reports reflect deficient procedure and training, and reveal a list of serious shortcomings and a general lack of care by staff. There were also questions over the maintenance of medical equipment on the premises.
As a response to the CQC reports, in August 2016 the organisation temporarily suspended some of its abortion services. However by October, after making “considerable changes”, the Care Commission allowed all services to be resumed, stating “Marie Stopes International has made progress since our inspections; we will continue to monitor its services very closely and our planned re-inspections will determine exactly how embedded these improvements have been”.
However, what the Word of God requires is a total repeal of the infamous Abortion (1967) Act, passed 50 years ago. A timely, able letter, to this end, was sent to all MPs at Westminster by a correspondent to the January Evangelical Times, stating, “Each abortion snuffs out an innocent human life. It should not be allowed to happen because the Bible reminds us in Psalm 139: 13-16 that life from conception is sacred and precious, ‘Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ All human life is . . . intrinsically valuable from conception.”
While the CQC appears to voice care and compassion in its criticism of Marie Stopes clinics, little or no reference is made to, or concern shown for, the foetus, which may be aborted. While the bad practice of these clinics as to the mother’s safety is highlighted – and that is vital – state watchdogs are silent on the protection of the most vulnerable person, the person without a voice, the unborn child. Marie Stopes’ UK website boasts, “Everyone deserves the right to choose . . . your health and wellbeing is our biggest priority”. What about the rights of the child? Above all, what about God’s rights over all His creatures? How loudly the Bible speaks of the wicked: “In the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor” (Ps 10:8). These murders are no longer done secretly but openly, and are even sanctioned by the laws of many countries. KHM
Church of Scotland Minister Promoting “LGBT”
Rev John Nugent, minister of St Fergus Church of Scotland in Wick, is reported in The Herald as supporting the introduction of “LGBT inclusive education” into all Scottish schools. He says that “all inhabitants of our planet have rights that go along with being human” and that the denial of “inclusive education” in schools is “tantamount to a denial of human rights”. Those that do not agree with Mr Nugent on this matter, he characterises as “bigots and haters”.
The Bible knows nothing about these “rights” that people invent for themselves, which have become such a convenient tool for promoting evil. The Bible does tell us, however, about sin, and in particular about the sin of sodomy (what LGBT essentially is), and it warns us that those who continue in their sins will suffer eternal punishment at the hand of God. Those who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ will be saved. The Bible also warns us about those “in sheep’s clothing” who pretend to be ministers of Christ but who inwardly are “ravening wolves”, teaching men to ignore Christ’s gospel and to break His law (Mt 7:15). DWBS