Polish women seeking an abortion are being advised to travel to Britain for free treatment on the NHS to avoid strict laws in their home country.
The poster campaign by a pro-abortion group claims that it is cheaper to fly to the UK and pay for accommodation than to get an underground termination in Poland.
The group, named SROM, have already been heavily criticised for promoting ‘abortion tourism’.
Made in the style of a Mastercard advert, the flyers and posters feature a woman in her underwear with the words ‘my choice’ daubed on her stomach in English.
It reads: ‘Plane ticket to England at special offer – 300 zloty (£70).
‘Accommodation – 240 zloty (£56). Abortion in a public clinic – 0 zloty.’
It adds: ‘Relief after a procedure carried out in decent conditions – priceless’.
At the foot of the poster, a message reads: ‘For everything, you pay less than an underground abortion in Poland.’
The posters are being distributed by a feminist organisation called SROM.
The Polish Federation for Women and Family Planning claims that thousands of women already travel to Britain each year for abortions after being denied them in Poland – which is a Roman Catholic country.
Their report in 2008 found that 10,000 Polish women had abortions in Britain during 2007 in procedures costing the NHS between £5 million and £10 million.
Under EU regulations, Britain has a reciprocal agreement with Poland to provide free medical care for anyone needing treatment.
Anne Widdecombe, the Conservative MP, said Britain had become the ‘abortion capital of Europe’ and added that our laws are ‘far, far too lax’.
Kevin Barron, Labour chairman of the Commons health select committee, told The Daily Telegraph: ‘The NHS should certainly not be funding terminations for Polish women.’
He said it would be ‘against all regulations’.
‘If a woman who is not British attempted to get a termination here I would hope they would be turned away,’ he added.
Around 7,000 women from Ireland and Northern Ireland to travel to the UK each year for abortions at private or NHS clincs as it is illegal to have the procedure in their home country.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said it would be very difficult to get a non-emergency procedure such as a termination on the NHS if the patient were not a British citizen.
Abortion in Poland is illegal unless the woman’s life or health is endangered, the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act, or the foetus is seriously malformed.
A Polish anti-abortion group sparked concern earlier this month when they displayed billboard adverts using pictures of Hitler and a bloody and torn foetus to ensure people stuck to strict abortion laws.
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March 16th, 2010 at 5:59 pm護足網 » 什麼是足底肌膜？ says:
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