SCOTLAND'S most senior Catholic churchman has called for a boycott of lottery tickets in protest at more than Ï3m in funding given to organisations that help women obtain
abortions.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien has accused the National Lottery of misusing funds by financing Brook Advisory Centres and the FPA (formerly the Family Planning Association). He says people should "think very carefully" before buying a lottery ticket as they will be supporting groups that offer abortions. He believes they should support other charities instead.

A total of 17 awards, worth Ï1.7m, have been made to Brook Advisory Centres and eight grants totalling Ï1.6m have gone to the FPA. Both groups offer advice on contraception to young people and will refer pregnant women to abortion clinics.

The Catholic church claims that, in contrast, sexual health services with Christian aims, which encourage women to keep their babies, have not been given lottery cash. "I remain concerned at what I believe to be a blatant misuse of funds given in good faith by members of the public who hope to buy a winning lottery ticket but equally want to give to good causes," said O'Brien, the archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh. "I would urge anyone concerned with the sexual health of future generations to think very carefully before supporting the national lottery. I am quite staggered at the volume of funds provided to these agencies
"I am at a loss to understand the criteria used by the National Lottery when determining whether or not to give such vast sums of money to agencies which have such lamentable track records. At the same time, I know of Christian agencies excluded from the funding process because their religious ethos marks them out as noninclusive organisations."

Last week the Catholic church in south Wales threatened to boycott Comic Relief because it believed money raised would be used to fund abortions. Bishop Mark Jabale of the diocese of Menevialater lifted the ban after representatives of the charity assured the church that money would not be spent in this way.

There are 17 Brook Advisory Centres around the UK offering free and confidential sexual health advice and contraception to people up to the age of 25. In 2001 Hawys Kilday, formerly the chief executive of the Brook Advisory Centre in Edinburgh, became the first British person to be targeted by the notorious Nuremberg Files website, run by American anti-abortion extremists, which has been linked to the deaths of several doctors.

The Catholic church in Scotland is also critical of organisations providing free contraception, arguing that young people should instead be encouraged to remain abstinent before marriage.

The National Lottery has raised more than £16 billion for 180,000 good causes over the past decade. The Big Lottery Fund (BLF), which distributes half of the lottery's money, said its grants helped young people through a range of projects.

A spokeswoman added: "We respect the right of individuals to decide whether or not to purchase lottery tickets or apply for lottery grants."

Tony Blair and Michael Howard both expressed reservations about abortion in interviews with Cosmopolitan, the women's magazine.

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