Controversial TV advert for the morning after pill screened despite serious opposition
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The United Kingdom’s first TV advert for the morning-after pill was screened on 23 April 2009 after the 9pm watershed on ITV, Channel 4, Sky and others.The United Kingdom’s first TV advert for the morning-after pill was screened on 23 April 2009 after the 9pm watershed on ITV, Channel 4, Sky and others. Bayer Schering Pharma, a pharmaceutical company producing Levonelle One Step, was allowed to advertise because it is not a prescription drug. The drug can act to terminate a pregnancy in its earliest stages. In the advert, Bayer Schering Pharma pointed out that Levonelle One Step is effective for up to 72 hours after contraception has failed, although it is more effective the sooner it is taken.
The advert showed a woman waking up next to her partner and then visiting a pharmacy to buy the drug, which is the only morning-after pill available to women in the UK.
(see the advert at www.brandrepublic.com/News/900883/Moral-line-crossed-parents-jam-phones-morning-after-pill-complaints/)
The move comes weeks after pregnancy advisory services were allowed to advertise on TV and radio for the first time and that condom manufacturers were permitted to show adverts pre-watershed. A spokesman for Bayer said: ‘We believe TV advertising plays an important role in informing women about Levonelle One Step and how it can be obtained.’
CCFON is concerned at the further liberation towards abortificients.
Dominica Roberts of the ProLife Alliance stated that the advert ‘will have little impact on the numbers of unplanned pregnancies and abortions. It is advertised inaccurately as emergency contraception, when in fact its major function is to cause the abortion of an embryo that has already been conceived, not as suggested by the name to prevent conception. Young girls will be particularly susceptible to this campaign and it is foolish to imagine they do not watch TV after the 9pm watershed.’
In the earlier Christmas campaign, Ann Furedi, Chief Executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said:
'Sex isn’t always planned or prepared for. It’s easy to get carried away, which is why we advise women to back up their birth control by keeping the morning after pill at home. You don’t wait until you get a headache to buy your pain relief, why wait until you’ve risked pregnancy to get the morning after pill? The BPAS holiday pack is our Christmas gift to help women avoid unwanted pregnancies in the New Year.’
However, it is clear that increased availability of the morning-after pill is a move towards abortion on demand. It has also clear that such attitudes will not increase responsibility but rather will encourage promiscuity and irresponsible sexual behaviour, with a consequent risk of spreading sexually transmitted diseases.
Levonelle has previously been promoted through posters and magazine ads. A 2004 London Underground poster campaign, featuring the strap-line 'Immaculate Contraception' was withdrawn following complaints from Catholic groups.
Independent
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Press Association
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