Pro-Life Charity Receives Grant to Help Vulnerable Women, Left Furious

Anti-abortion activists rally outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, March 2, 201
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Left wing media outlets have attacked a pro-life charity after it was listed to receive government funding for a project helping vulnerable women.

Life Charity is set to receive a £250,000 grant, raised from the so-called “tampon tax”, to develop “housing, practical help, non-directive counselling and life-skills training for pregnant and homeless women”.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said the funding was for a specific project in West London to help homeless women, and has nothing to do with the charity’s position on abortion.

However, the decision has been slammed in the left wing press, with the Independent reporting “outrage” at the decision and The Guardian called it a “disgrace”.

Despite the charity’s project to help vulnerable women, feminists have also attacked the grant.

Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality Party, said that while she appreciated the work being done by Life to support homeless pregnant women and sick children, she was “very disappointed to see the allocation of such significant funds to this one charity while many others struggle”.

“We consider any restriction on women’s reproductive rights as violence against us and thus it was a shock to learn the government has used the tampon tax fund to support a charity whose mission is anti-choice and aims to ‘make abortion a thing of the past’,” she added.

Meanwhile, Claire Murphy, Director of External Affairs at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the country’s largest abortion provider, said that “giving priority to unborn babies over women’s needs is absolutely shocking”.

“Life is well known for campaigning against women’s access to abortion,” she said.

“This is a tax on women’s periods being used to fund an organisation that is opposing women’s autonomy over their own bodies and pregnancies.”

However, Life’s Director of Operations, Margaret Coward, hit back, saying: “Life has provided support to women in crisis for over four decades.

“Only last year we housed 187 women at our Life Houses across the country. We provided non-directive counselling and skilled listening to over 2500 women.

“Since this charity started we have reached out and supported thousands of women at a difficult time in their life.

“Our commitment to supporting women in times of crisis, with care and compassion is beyond question and we are proud to stand tall amongst the groups which help women every day.”

A petition has now been set up in support of the charity.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.