IFPA’s public funding and tax status queried

IT is outrageous that the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) has launched a campaign for the wide availability of abortion in Ireland and proposes lobbying public representatives for a change in the law (Irish Examiner, August 10).

Political campaigning is not new to this organisation, it seems. For instance, in 2002, the IFPA spent a large sum campaigning for a No vote in the referendum on abortion on the grounds that the right to abortion should not be restricted.

The IFPA is also a member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, which includes some of the world’s largest abortion advocates and providers. Yet surprisingly, this is an organisation that receives the benefit of charitable tax status from the revenue commissioners, a status which prohibits such political campaigning.