JOHN SMEATON, DIRECTOR OF SPUC: "Abortion is 'sacred' care"

Saturday 14 April 2012

"Abortion is 'sacred' care"

It is saddening to read that a prayer initiative has been established, which prays for a promotion of and widespread toleration of abortion. The group appears to have been inspired by the international 40 Days for Life campaign. It has received the backing of a Planned Parenthood affiliate in California, USA, where the prayer campaign is taking place. One of the prayers being used is reported to describe abortion as “sacred care”. Needless to say, abortion is precisely the opposite of care and to describe abortion as "sacred" may well be considered blasphemy by many religious people. SPUC's website contains details of the various abortion procedures: decide for yourself whether any clear thinking person could consider such bloody work to be "sacred".

Various commentators argue that these direct attacks on the pro-life movement only serve to swell our numbers and bolster our conviction. I hope that this is true.

David Bereit, founder of the 40 Days for Life campaign, told LifeSiteNews that the prayers were a response to the devastating impact of the 40 Days for Life campaign on the abortion industry. He said:

“Some say that ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,’ but when that imitation is being used to promote the killing of innocent children, we are anything but flattered...Planned Parenthood has stooped to a new low by exploiting pastors and churches to ‘celebrate’ the slaughter of babies made in God’s image and likeness ... They certainly wouldn’t be doing this if 40 Days for Life wasn’t having a devastating impact on their abortion business!”

In the spirit of using the pithy attacks of the pro-abortion movement to encourage pro-life activism I include below two speeches by David Bereit. In the video below David Bereit rightly reminds the gathered crowd that pro-life work is inspired by love and that we must continue to pray for those promoting a culture of death. I was disappointed not to be able to attend one of the events when he spoke in the UK prior to the recent 40 Days for Life campaigns, but am glad to see that there are so many excellent speeches of his online. They are both informative and inspiring.

2011 Henry Hyde Life Leadership Award: David Bereit's rousing acceptance speech

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About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 42 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.