Editor's note. This first appeared last Friday on the blog of John Smeaton at http://spuc-director.blogspot.com/2010/11/spuc-is-saving-lives-in-tanzania.html. Mr. Smeaton is executive director of SPUC--the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.

I have just received the message below from my pro-life colleague, Scott Fischbach, the executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life:

"I am in the middle of a four-country visit to East Africa and just finished up a 3 day conference in Dar Es Salaam. At our conference there was one set of fetal models as seen below, sent by SPUC years ago. The lady who brought them told me many lives have been saved by women looking at them. Notice the box is a real mess after all these years, but the models are pristine. SPUC is saving lives in Tanzania -- good on ya! Scott".

Yes Scott! As you say, the box (photograph from Scott, above) is a mess. If you're reading this post, please send me the lady's address and we'll send her a new set with our compliments*.

MCCL is a U.S. pro-life group which, in my experience, has often been in the vanguard of important developments in the pro-life movement. I learned a great deal from them for SPUC's work when I visited their offices over 25 years ago.

Scott is now leading a pro-life speaking tour in Africa which, MCCL notes "is under siege from pro-abortion forces from all corners of the world".

He and his team are meeting African leaders to discuss what can be done to resist the "enormous pressure on African countries to abandon the protections they have in place for the unborn and their mothers" - not least pressures from the U.S.

Obama administration which is committing to promoting legalized abortion on demand in every country of the world; and pressures from the UK, where David Cameron and his government have made the promotion of abortion a fundamental plank of the government's overseas development policy.

And congratulations are due to the Fischbach family. Michelle, Scott's wife, has just assumed the presidency of the Minnesota Senate.

*"How You Began," produced by the SPUC educational research trust, is an anatomically accurate teaching aid that allows students to see, feel and touch the unborn child. It comprises five extremely realistic models designed and manufactured under the expert guidance of a team of leading foetal authorities including obstetricians and gynaecologists, pathologists and other experts in anatomy and embryology. In the classroom, the models are an ideal teaching aid for use at all Key stages.

The models can be used in GPs' surgeries and ante-natal classes to enable pregnant women to understand what physical changes are taking place. They are also ideal for use in teaching embryology, obstetrics and gynaecology, and anatomy.

They can be ordered at http://www.spuc.org.uk/shop/product_details?id=22.