A pilot joint venture between Boots, the Greater Glasgow Community
and an NHS Trust was announced on 1 December. The scheme is offering an
accessible location for a regular family planning clinic, open to
younger teenagers.
Reporting was confrontational from the start and the number of quotes
from anti-family planning organisations, such as the Catholic Church and
Life, narrowly outnumbered supporters’ statements. The announcement
stressed the high degree of responsibility - only Lynda Lee Potter in
the Daily Mail, ignored that. Arguments for Boots also used statistics
displaying the problem. The counter arguments represented predictions of
an increase in pregnancies and abortions. The words ’retailing morality’
appeared in an article arguing that Boots’ involvement must be for
commercial gain in the Sunday Telegraph. Death threats were made to the
retail staff before the opening which made the Scotsman point out the
moral issue raised by pro-lifers threatening to kill.
Evaluation and analysis by CARMA International. Cuttings supplied by the
Broadcast Monitoring Company. ’What The Papers Say’ can be found at:
www.carma.com.
