In a significant victory for pro-lifers, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has decided to stop offering abortion services at its clinic in Bedford Square.
Vigils
Pro-life groups have held prayer vigils outside the Bedford clinic over the last 13 years, with 40 Days for Life holding 40-day 12-hour vigils twice a year since spring 2011.
At least 20 women attending the clinic have decided to keep their babies as a direct result of the support and offers of help provided by 40 Days for Life.
In a press release, the group said: “We thank God for the cessation of abortion facilities at Bedford Square and we thank our supporters who continue to pray at 40 Days for Life vigils throughout the UK. We would also like to extend a special thanks to the priests, bishops and Religious who have joined us in our campaigns in recent years.
“We continue to hold in our thoughts and prayers the babies who have lost their lives at Bedford Square; the women who have been, and continue to be affected in any way by the abortions that have taken place there; and the many doctors, nurses and employees of BPAS who continue to participate in abortion in the mistaken belief that it offers an appropriate solution to unexpected pregnancies.”
Move
A spokeswoman for BPAS has said that the clinic’s s abortion facilities will move to its Stratford clinic in East London, commenting that it would be“opening up smaller clinics, more of them, nearer to where women live.”
Commenting on the statement, 40 Days for Life said: “We acknowledge that BPAS will continue to offer contraception and vasectomies, as well as ‘pregnancy option consultations’ at this location, and that they have stated that their abortion provision will be moved to their facility in Stratford, East London; however we consider it a significant and highly symbolic victory that there will be one less provider of abortions in the heart of our capital city.
“BPAS have said ‘this [Bedford Square] isn’t a residential area. We’re opening up smaller clinics, more of them, nearer to where women live.’ We consider this strategy to be indicative of the fact that abortion providers are implicitly recognising the increasing unease that the British public have with regards to the high-profile presence of such facilities in our towns and cities across the UK.”
Sources: