UK Life League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

UK Life League is a British pressure group that opposes abortion[1], contraception[2], sex education[3], euthanasia[4], stem cell research[5], gay rights legislation[6] and some modern approaches to medical ethics. It describes itself as "The premier pro-life and family values campaigning organisation" and as "peacefully campaigning to end the violence of abortion".

The group's website states, "We believe that debate and argument will not achieve the necessary results. Pro-life groups have tried this avenue for years, and it is clear that they have failed. Whilst debate and argument have their place, what people really need is to be confronted with the grim and gruesome reality of abortion."[7]

[edit] Controversy

Life League is led by a former Orangeman, James Dowson, with convictions for violent and firearms offences [8][9]. Dowson describes himself as "a vicar" and "a minister of a small Scottish church", but does not appear on any registry of clergy.

The group regularly sends explicit images, perporting to be of aborted foetuses discovered in British hospital refuse, to pro-choice organisations, hospitals and others whom they believe oppose their position. A spokesperson for Marie Stopes UK states that aborted foetuses have not been disposed of in such a manner for over 20 years, and alleges that the images are in fact altered stock photographs from American anti-abortion campaigns.[10]

In 2005, the group provoked substantial public controversy after publishing the address and telephone number of a Catholic boarding school whose headmistress they accuse of "child abuse" and of teaching the "types of contraception th[at] can [be] use[d] to facilitate recreational sex"[11] The school responded that, "What we teach falls entirely within the national curriculum and the way in which we teach the use of contraception is in the context of a committed relationship. Every Catholic school in the country will be doing what we are doing", and expressed concern that the publication of the school's details had endangered its pupils.

Life League's tactics have been described by the police as "akin to those of animal rights extremists" and the group's activities have been investigated by the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit.[12]

In 2006, the group characterised ethical guideline proposals by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics that severely premature babies not necessarily be revived as "calls for severely disabled babies to be killed at birth"[13] and as "baby euthanasia".[14]

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.uklifeleague.com/abortion.htm
  2. ^ http://www.uklifeleague.com/contraception.htm
  3. ^ http://www.uklifeleague.com/sexed.htm
  4. ^ http://www.uklifeleague.com/llposeuth.htm
  5. ^ http://www.uklifeleague.com/enews/061211%20e-newsletter.htm
  6. ^ http://www.uklifeleague.com/nisorscampaign.htm
  7. ^ http://www.uklifeleague.com/lifeleagueintroduction.htm
  8. ^ http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=111042002
  9. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/02/nabort02.xml
  10. ^ http://education.guardian.co.uk/faithschools/story/0,,1740539,00.html>
  11. ^ http://www.uklifeleague.com/enews/06-03-20.htm
  12. ^ http://education.guardian.co.uk/faithschools/story/0,,1740539,00.html>
  13. ^ http://www.uklifeleague.com/enews/061113%20e-newsletter.htm
  14. ^ http://www.uklifeleague.com/enews/061106%20e-newsletter.htm

[edit] External Links

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