JOHN SMEATON, DIRECTOR OF SPUC: the aftermath of abortion

Thursday, 24 January 2008

the aftermath of abortion

I met on Tuesday with Margaret Cuthill and Cathy McBean, our British Victims of Abortion team in Glasgow. We were making plans for SPUC's Silent No More events throughout Britain in the coming year which I wrote about recently. At these events, Margaret and others - women and men - will be sharing with the public their personal painful experiences of abortion. In this way the Society reaches out to others who may be affected by an abortion and are struggling in silence. There is an online list of the forthcoming Silent No More events. For further information about the work of British Victims of Abortion, which is funded by the SPUC education and research trust, contact Cathy or Margaret on (0141) 226 5407.

Cathy McBean (left) and Margaret Cuthill at BVA HQ, Glasgow.

About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 42 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.