"Vulnerable women should not be seen as a revenue opportunity but sadly we know this is not the reality as abortion itself is a multi-million pound industry. Private abortion clinics have a vested monetary interest in increasing the numbers of abortions they perform every year," said Robinson.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service justifies legal abortion as a response to contraceptive failure. In July 2017, the advisory service said that a quarter of the over 60,500 women who had an abortion at its clinics in 2016 were using either hormonal contraception or a long-acting reversible contraceptive method when they became pregnant. Over half were using contraception of some kind.
In the U.K., 9 in every 100 women who use the contraceptive pill will become pregnant, as will 6 in 100 who use the contraception injection, and 1 in 100 who use the copper coil intrauterine device. Some pro-life advocates argue that increased contraception access may lead people to engage in risky sexual behavior, thus leading to higher rates of unintended pregnancy.
Robinson said pro-life support services are available to help pregnant women in difficulty. She criticized efforts by abortion groups to ban pro-life vigils outside abortion clinics, saying these vigils often offer support for women considering abortion.
"By attempting to restrict the locations where women facing unplanned pregnancies can receive compassionate emotional and practical support, the 'pro-choice' lobby are removing real choice for women and revealing they're really just pro-abortion," said Robinson.
In a Feb. 24 letter, written before the coronavirus pandemic had grasped the region, Catholic leaders said that abolishing the two-child limit for universal credit and the universal tax credit would help more than half a million of the poorest children of England and Wales.
The letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak came from Bishop Richard Moth of Arundel and Brighton, chair of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales' Department for Social Justice, and Nigel Parker, director of the Catholic Union.
"The impacts of this policy are currently being felt by families from all walks of life. Most are in work and many fell upon hard times after having their children. It also affects refugee families given sanctuary in our country and has a disproportionate impact upon religious minorities," said the letter.
"What unites all these families is the hardship they have suffered as a result of not receiving basic support for each child. Catholic charities across England and Wales have first-hand experience of how the limit can put essentials such as food, rent and utility bills beyond reach, with devastating consequences for children's well-being and life-chances," they said.
The letter sought to sway policy in the government budget, set March 11. As of February 2020, an estimated 160,000 families had been affected by the limit. Even before the arrival of the novel coronavirus, charities estimated that by 2023-2024 the policy would push 300,000 children into poverty and further impoverish one million children already in poverty.