I think it's important to note here that it ISN'T advertising abortion, despite what some right-wing Christian groups were saying. Marie Stopes International offer advide, and let women know about the options available. One of which is abortion. But they also give info on pregnancy tests, emergency contraception, and a variety of other things. It's not like they're an abortion clinic

In Russia, any kind of 'abortion advertisement' and 'abortion propaganda' is prohibited by law (which was lobbied by the Orthodox Church). I don't think there is a definition of what is and isn't considered propaganda, so basically, any public announcement which doesn't say 'abortion bad bad BAD' is propaganda.

It's interesting that this ad includes a woman with two kids. It seems to me that most discussions about abortion concentrate on women who don't have children yet, but abortion is a big deal for women who already have children but don't want (or can't) have more.

I agree with Aimee, it appears that the commercial is not advertising abortion, but rather a hotline with multiple options. For me, without a clear listing of the options, I am not sure that I would trust an advertisement like this to be willing to discuss abortion. While I have not seen a television advertisement like this in the US, there are "crisis pregnancy centers" which are mostly anti-abortion and pro-life, and often advertise with "Free Pregnancy Test." Is it different in the UK?

I'm confused. This advert doesn't even mention abortion. A little research reveals that the organization consults and arranges abortion treatments, but they also deal in tons of other sexual/reproductive health issues.

I have a strong connection the U.S. organization Planned Parenthood. This Marie Stopes group seems very similar in their range of services. If that's the case, then why is this so different from any commercial in which PP encourages people to contact them about their sexual health questions? I've seen dozens of those.

Is it just the political backlash in Britain that makes this a story? After watching this video I STILL have never seen a commercial advertising abortion services.

This is kind of a pet peeve of mine, but this commercial doesn't even MENTION abortion. It sounds to me like it's very similar to Planned Parenthood and that they give counseling and options and help.

This is the same kind of crap that gives Planned Parenthood a bad name! It's ridiculous- I hate that when people hear Planned Parenthood they immediately think "ABORTION ABORTION ABORTION" because places like PP offer so much more. Sexual health counseling, help for women who want to get pregnant or who don't want to get pregnant. Pardon my language but it's goddamned ridiculous to call this a commercial advertising abortion services when all they did was say "If you’re late for your period, you could be pregnant. If you’re pregnant and not sure what to do, Marie Stopes International can help."

So, the politics around this? The politics are that SOMEONE wants people to think this commercial is promoting abortion when it's doing nothing of the sort in order to further prevent women from making educated decisions about their own bodies.

In Puerto Rico for the last 15 years at least we have a very famous radio ad about an abortion clinic. Almost everybody at the island can quote it. It is also use as a "pop culture" reference because of the last tag line. The ad is a staple on the rotation of the most listened radio stations. The ad says:

Amiga, si has decidido terminar tu embarazo para preservar tu salud física o mental, nosotros podemos ayudarte. Woman´s Medical pavillion, sólo tienes que llamar a nuestro teléfono. Anota nuestro teléfono, podrías necesitarlo. Planifica tu familia, es legal... es pensar.

Which translate to:

Friend, if you have decided to end your pregnancy to preserve you mental or physical health, we can help you. Woman´s Medical Pavilion, you just have to call our phone number. Take note of the phone, you may need it. Plan your family, it's legal.. it's to think.

It never occurred to me that abortion ad was somehow daring specially because our ties with the USA laws.

I seem to remember there was a paper produced by body that regulates TV advertising in the UK last year recommending that advertising for crisis pregnancy services stipulated whether or not they were able, or willing, to refer women to termination of pregnancy services. The point of this was to put an end to those organisations that offered "crisis pregnancy advice" but really just showed anti-abortion propaganda footage to the women coming to the service.

Rewritten to specify "family planning services, including abortion," instead of simply abortion.

Thanks for the correction.

Of course you could run an ad here in the states and I have seen many of them, they just were advertising for the abortion prevention clinics.

for example by using the Google to search for "abortion Boulder" the third choice down is "real choices" which gives a bunch of non-abortion scare clinics

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=abortion+boulder+co&fb=1&gl=us&hq=abortion&hnear=Boulder,+CO&cid=14666286101178328117

I don't really understand why you posted this ad on this blog, or why (and how) you saw it as promoting abortion. As others noted, Planned Parenthood advertises; how is this different?

I live in Québec and I saw ads advertising a similar place - offering ADVICE - at a university and at a Cégep (where students are 17-18 y.o.)

Here in China, mainly because of the 1 child-policy, there are actually commercials promoting hospitals and the abortion services they provide. They're all over the place in the local areas, mostly on TV and the radio. (But not on government CCTV, especially since some CCTV stations are broadcast overseas.)

I personally can't stand them. One reason is because condoms, sex ed, and whatnot are NEVER discussed. There are many girls who go to college/graduate high school thinking they'll stay virgins and end up having 6 abortions before they graduate. Because much of Chinese society keeps these things hush-hush, and also because the younger generation is way more influenced by foreign media, we end up with way too many unplanned pregnancies.

Here are example of typical commercials advertising abortion, in case anybody wants to know. Obviously, the real ads are in Chinese. (Also, they NEVER say anything about the man involved. I guess pregnancy is still only for the women and has nothing to do with the men.)

(A Television one) "Time to make a cup of coffee? 3 minutes. Time to pick a good pair of shoes? 3 minutes. Time to get a quick, painless, abortion? 3 minutes. Come to (name) Hospital, where we have specialised staff waiting to help you perform your abortion!"

A( A radio one)
Woman: "Oh no! I wasn't careful and now I'm pregnant again! What should I do?"
Friend: "Don't worry! I went to (name) Hospital and got an abortion! It was cheap, painless, and best of all, it only took 3 minutes!"

Never seen such thing but perhaps around here abortion is so well-established thing that it really does not need any public media promotion such as this. Definitely abortion should be made know to adolescents in school system by default so no one had to even consider the need for media campaign like this.

By the way, is it true that is some states of USA abortion is banned or restricted? I have heard that they have closed down a number of abortion clinics recently in there due to politics.

Anyone think it was interesting that the last woman portrayed (who has darker skin than the others and appears to be of African descent - I am unsure of the most accepted term in the UK) is named Shareen, while the others are Jenny and Katie? While I comprehend that this could be a name 'perceived' as being more easily identifiable to "black" women than the others, I find this somewhat questionable. I am not from the UK so I am unsure of the prevalence of this name in their area, but I wonder if Michelle might be more common than Shareen for darker women?