Anti-abortion charity to receive £250,000 from tampon tax funds

A quarter of a million pounds of the money raised by the tampon tax will be given to an anti-abortion charity, the government has confirmed.

Sanitary products are currently taxed as non-essential luxury items at 5%, despite them being a necessity for menstruating women.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that £250,000 of the money raised by the levy would go to Life, an organisation that campaigns against abortion.

Freedom of Information request by the Guardian has revealed funding will be awarded to the charity, although it will be "prohibited" from spending the cash on publicity, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport confirmed.

In 2014, Life was mentioned in the sexual health charity Brook's report into Crisis Pregnancy Centres, which highlighted "misinformation, bias, and poor quality practice in independent pregnancy counselling centres in the UK."

In another report about Life's leaflet and information booklets, Brook concluded: "Life has falsely linked abortion to mental health problems, increased risk of suicide, breast cancer, placenta praevia and ectopic pregnancy (all of which are discounted by the RCOG's professional guidelines on abortion)."

The organisation will also be barred from spending the tampon tax handout on pregnancy counselling and education services.

In March, the government announced 70 organisations would receive a portion of the £12m raised by the tampon tax.

Life was listed as a recipient of one of the largest donations, which would go towards "housing, practical help, counselling, emotional support and life-skills training for young pregnant women who are homeless."

Margaret Coward, director of operation at the charity, said in a statement issued at the time: "Life has provided support to women in crisis for over four decades. Our commitment to supporting women in times of crisis, with care and compassion is beyond question and we are proud to stand tall amongst the groups which help women every day.

"We are there to empower those women with the support they need to continue with their pregnancy and to equip them with the skills to help them overcome their personal challenges."

A number of MPs campaigned against the tampon tax and the distribution of funds raised to anti-abortion organisations.

Labour MP Paula Sherriff, speaking earlier this year, said: "It will seem bitterly ironic to many women if we are taxed for our biology, only for the government to hand over that money to organisations that don't even believe we should have control over our own bodies."