Taxpayers in the UK provided over £48 million worth of funding for Marie Stopes International (MSI) last year, its accounts have revealed.
MSI says providing abortion is “at the core of our mission” and boasts of ‘shaping abortion policy’ in several countries.
In 2018, the Department for International Development (DfID) gave £48,173,000 to MSI – £4m more than in 2017. Money paid by the Department of Health to Marie Stopes for UK-based abortions is not included in the figures.
Praise
Throughout its report, MSI praises DfID for its involvement in countries including Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In contrast, it bemoans the cut in funding from the USA for its abortion and other services.
In total, MSI had an income of nearly £300m in 2018, with anonymous donations coming second to the giving from UK taxpayers.
Shocking
In September 2018, Theresa May pledged £200m towards ‘family planning’ services in Africa and Asia.
MSI says in its latest report that it will carry out this work across 15 countries.
In 2017, a documentary looked at the reality of abortion in Africa, telling shocking stories of clinic conditions and practices.
‘Killing Africa’ described how loud radio was used to drown out the screaming of women undergoing manual vacuum aspiration by untrained medical assistants. The women were sent home the same day.