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Catholic Church in Scotland Pays 12-Year-Old to Have Baby

As part of a so-called “Pro-Life” initiative set up by Scottish Cardinal Thomas Winning, a twelve-year-old girl in Britain was given money to keep her baby. The young girl is the most controversial so far of the 2,000 British women who have accepted money from the Catholic Church not to have an abortion. Social workers and teachers advised the girl’s family that an abortion was the best option given her age. The girl’s father, however, decided to accept the church’s offer. British pro-choice advocates were outraged at the decision, claiming that the church was putting their interests before the well-being of the girl. Sarah Colborne of the National Abortion campaign said, “If Cardinal Winning was really concerned about women in poverty then he would be campaigning for more resources for them, rather than doling out used prams and a few hundred pounds here and there.” Many feminists raise the question of how much the Catholic Church is making from adoption and foster care.

Sources:

BBC - October 11, 1999

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