A Christian education charity has been criticised by pro-choice campaigners and Labour MP Diane Abbott for teaching school children that abortion 'can cause holes in the womb'.
Last year Lovewise conducted 250 presentations in schools on sex education topics. The charity also sells its presentations for use by teachers or individuals. Its presentation on abortion includes slides claiming that 93 per cent of rape victims regret the decision to have an abortion, while 70 per cent who keep the baby do not regret the decision. It also tells pupils that there is an increased risk of depression and suicide.
Preview slides for the abortion presentation on the charity's website state that abortion can cause "hole in the womb, bleeding and infection" and that in the longer term women are "seven times more likely to comit suicide".
Abbott, who is the shadow minster for public health, said: “I think it is very wrong and the government needs to step in because we can’t teach children at an impressionable age this sort of propaganda. Sexual health education is supposed to be based on facts, these people are pedalling bigotry.”
On its blog Education for Choice, which is a sex education charity that also campaigns for impartial advice, said that: “What we object to is the use of misleading, biased and at times, outright false information, which is unsupported by scientific evidence.”
It added that it was concerned about the “the effect such presentations might have on children’s wellbeing”.
Lovewise founder and trustee Dr Chris Richards, who is also a paediatrician at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary, told civilsociety.co.uk that the organisation stood by the information in its presentations as “scientific information”.
He said: “It is well understood by the Royal College of Obstetricians that occasionally abortions lead to complications that cause damage to the womb – that is why women who have an abortion are given antibiotics.”
The NHS choices website states that damage to the womb “occurs in up to four in every 1,000 abortions during surgical abortion, and less than one in 1,000 medical abortions carried out at 12-24 weeks”.
Lovewise pulled its statistics about rape victims regretting abortions from a book published in 2000 - Victims and Victors - which were based on a survey of 200 women. The evidence for an increased suicide risk is based on Finnish study published in 1996 for the years 1987 to 1994.
Richards added that in 2011 the organisation removed a slide claiming that abortion was linked to breast cancer as there was no longer a medical consensus on that point. He stressed that the majority of the charity’s work was about marriage and that the charity was open about presenting “a Christian, pro-life view” and that presentations were given at the request of schools by volunteers.
A spokeswoman for the Charity Commission told civilsociety.co.uk that it was not investigating Lovewise and had not received any complaints about its activities.
A Department for Education spokeswoman said: “We want all schools to have high-quality sex and relationship education so pupils have the information they need to make the best possible choices.
"We expect all schools to tackle these topics responsibly, factually, and in an age-appropriate way. Schools have a responsibility under law to ensure children are insulated from political activity and campaigning in the classroom. They must present both sides of an argument if they are teaching about controversial issues.”
