Men’s Catholic order gave secret millions to ‘deceptive’ anti-abortion centres

Revealed: Tax filings show Knights of Columbus ploughed at least $10.8m into ‘crisis pregnancy centres’ in six years

Open Democracy – by Diana Cariboni, Angelina De Los Santos, Mónica Cordero
14 February 2024

A multi-billion-dollar all-male Catholic order in the US has handed at least $10.8m to hundreds of anti-abortion centres in six years, openDemocracy can reveal – several times what was previously known.

Founded in the 19th century to assist Irish widows and orphans in the US, the Knights of Columbus – named after Christopher Columbus – funded at least 485 of the 2,500 so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centres’ in America between 2017 and 2022, our analysis of hundreds of documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) found. The order claims to have two million members.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/knights-of-columbus-crisis-pregnancy-centres-anti-abortion-us-daf/


U.S. Anti-Abortion Activists Are Spreading Clinic Protests Around the World

The Texas-based group 40 Days for Life has brought its aggressive tactics to more than 1,000 cities in 65 countries.

Jessica Bateman
January 9, 2023

There were four or five protesters outside Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, the first time Dr. Greg Irwin saw them. He was driving to his job as a consultant radiologist when he noticed the group hoisting placards opposite the parking lot, close to the maternity unit. BEFORE I FORMED YOU IN THE WOMB I KNEW YOU, one sign read, alongside a Bible reference. “Oh, my God,” Irwin thought. “It’s one of those American protests.”

After he parked in his usual spot, an older woman holding rosary beads smiled as he approached. “We’re holding a prayer vigil,” she explained, adding that they were offering “support and advice” to women. Irwin noticed their placards were branded with the logo of 40 Days for Life. When he googled the name later that night, he expected to find a local church organization. Instead, he discovered the shiny, high-budget website of a Texas-based group, emblazoned with pictures of men in sharp suits with dazzling white teeth. A counter in the corner ticked down the numbers of babies “saved” worldwide. Scrolling, he saw a map festooned with red pins, marking group locations all over the world. Irwin stared at his screen, bewildered. How could there be a connection between a group in Texas and the woman outside his hospital in Scotland?

Continued: https://newrepublic.com/article/169587/us-anti-abortion-activists-spreading-clinic-protests-around-world


‘It’s 2022’: Moosomin woman looks to combat rural anti-abortion billboards with ‘Abortion is Healthcare’ signs

Brady Lang
Aug. 25, 2022

Megan Johnston was travelling en route to a camping trip with a friend, nine hours across the province, when she began counting anti-abortion signs in the rural areas of Saskatchewan.

Once they arrived, the pair realized they had passed 13 of the signs, sparking an idea in the Moosomin woman’s head to do something about it.

Continued: https://regina.ctvnews.ca/it-s-2022-moosomin-woman-looks-to-combat-rural-anti-abortion-billboards-with-abortion-is-healthcare-signs-1.6042907


Pro-choice billboard to counter signs by anti-choice organization in Cape Breton

Pro-choice billboard to counter signs by anti-choice organization in Cape Breton

Erin Pottie
July 31, 2019

For years, anti-abortion signs along Cape Breton’s roadways have asked motorists to ‘protect life’ and live with ‘no regrets.’

But now a grassroots group is now planning to create its own billboard with a much different message.

Continued: https://www.capebretonpost.com/news/local/pro-choice-billboard-to-counter-signs-by-anti-choice-organization-in-cape-breton-338887/


Ireland- Anti-abortion movement trusts politicians only when it suits them

Anti-abortion movement trusts politicians only when it suits them
Eighth Amendment was result of efforts in 1983 to politicise abortion

Mar 31, 2018
Diarmaid Ferriter

Over the decades, champions of the Eighth Amendment have been conveniently selective in their assessments of the usefulness of politicians. During the Seanad debate on the abortion Bill on Wednesday, Senator Ronán Mullen was adamant that “politicians simply can’t be trusted on this issue”; indeed the Eighth Amendment, he insisted, was originally designed to “take this issue away from politicians”.

But it was the politicians who the orchestrators of the Eighth Amendment found extremely useful in 1983. Emily O’Reilly’s 1992 book, Masterminds of the Right underlines a secret world of a very small group who plotted the 1983 amendment and got the politicians to do their bidding.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/anti-abortion-movement-trusts-politicians-only-when-it-suits-them-1.3445715