WOMEN in Britain are being asked to turn to the Catholic Church in Scotland to seek financial support before making "one of the biggest mistakes of your life" and having an abortion.
Announcing his "bold initiative", the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Thomas Winning, said provisions were in place to help women faced with raising a child on their own, those considering an abortion or women who had made the decision.
Speaking at a conference of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children in Glasgow yesterday, Cardinal Winning said abortion was a "fundamental problem facing society". Many women, he said, felt financial pressures forced them into abortion but "whatever worries or cares you may have, we will help you".
Asking women, couples and families to contact the archdiocesan offices from today, Cardinal Winning promised "support and encouragement" would be provided, irrespective of their ethnic background or faith. "If you need pregnancy testing or counselling we will help you," he said. "If you cannot face your family or if pressure in your local area is making you consider an abortion, come to us.
"And if you have had an "abortion If you are torn apart with guilt, if your relationship has split up because of abortion, if you are suffering from post abortion stress come to us, we will help you."
Although church officials stress that Cardinal Winning's speech does not mean a special fund has been created, they are confident the church will cope with requests for financial help. The cardinal's speech, they said, reflected the financial help already on offer if a woman approached the church or pro life agencies.
Last night offers of financial help began to flood in to the Catholic Church in Scotland. One woman said she would donate money from the sale of her house, while an anonymous donor pledged £50,000.
The leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Basil Hume, reacted to the speech saying it was "very encouraging" that abortion was being discussed in the context of the election. But the Labour Party has responded to criticism of Mr Tony Blair's inconsistency on the issue, saying that he believed abortion was a matter for the church, not politics.
In private, Mr Blair is understood to oppose abortion but he believes a woman's choice should, not be taken away by changes in the criminal law.
The pro choice Abortion Law Reform Association, which campaigns for women to be allowed an abortion on demand during the first three months of pregnancy, has not welcomed the cardinal's speech. A spokeswoman said: "Ally the church will be doing is getting women through a difficult patch and then dumping them." And the Birth Control Trust described the speech as "a cheap stunt designed to gain attention for what would otherwise have been a poorly attended meaningless conference".
. The Bishop of Ossory, Dr Laurence Forristal, said the Catholic Church in Ireland had responded to the plight of pregnant women in difficult circumstances through agencies such as CURA. Financial difficulties were often not the only reason women considered abortion. The church and agencies such as CURA had responded with counselling, support and other assistance.