“The film amplifies the African voices that have never been heard before.”
By SPUC—the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children
Obianuju Ekeocha with Lord Gordon.
Photos by Nice Smile.
Tuesday evening saw the premier of the harrowing film Strings Attached, hosted at the House of Commons by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, and sponsored by Labour MP Mary Glindon.
It exposes how UK overseas aid is being used to fund a booming abortion industry in Africa while destroying the lives of women and young girls as well as killing their unborn babies.
The ground-breaking documentary has been made by Nigerian pro-life leader and founder of Culture of Life Africa, Obianuju Ekeocha. It follows what happens to the millions of pounds of foreign aid given by Western donors, and the UK Government in particular, to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Africa.
It features interviews with women who have had their lives devastated by the pushing of abortion by organisations such as Marie Stopes.
Ms. Ekeocha said: “This feature-length documentary presents the African side of the story of enthusiastic western donors and the impact on the African recipients of their ‘gifts’. We expose how western funding to abortion-providers like Marie Stopes International (MSI), is undermining traditional African values which respect human life.
Obianuju Ekeocha with Philippa Taylor of the Christian Medical Fellowship, who featured in Strings Attached.
“No-one ever bothers to follow the trail of the funding to know where: and how it ends up, or to know how the individual lives of African women in cities and villages alike are affected by it.”
The documentary also explores MSI in the UK and highlights the 2016 Care Quality Commission report which revealed 2,600 cases of abuse and safety in MSI clinics in England. The UK Government gave MSI £44 million in 2017, and recently pledged another £200 million for family planning in Africa and Asia.
Strings Attached
“At the centre of this story is a British reproductive health organisation and a regular recipient of UK government funding, whose practices in some of the African countries have devastated the lives of many African women and girls,” Ms. Ekeocha continued.
Obianuju Ekeocha (right) with her mother and SPUC’s Antonia Tully.
“The film amplifies the African voices that have never been heard before, with the hope that the world will finally listen to them, hear their experiences, share in their sorrows and take action to end this form of neo-colonialism that is destroying lives in Africa under the guise of ‘sexual and reproductive health and rights’.”
Antonia Tully, SPUC’s campaign director said: “We should be asking serious questions about why more than £1 billion has been earmarked by the UK government for the support and promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in countries like Africa. Abortion is not a solution to poverty.”
She continued, “Since 2017 the UK government has been committed to donating £225 million every year to developing countries until 2022 for reproductive health services – which includes abortions. The human costs are catastrophic.”