1. Your help is URGENTLY needed to save unborn children.
In Scotland, newly elected First Minister, Humza Yousaf, is backing legislation that would introduce ABORTION up to birth.
Abortions in Scotland, England, and Wales are already at RECORD highs.
Should the Scottish Government succeed in changing the abortion law:
- Babies will be killed right up to the moment of BIRTH for ANY reason whatsoever
- Baby girls will be targeted for ‘sex selection’ abortions
- A ‘Stepping Stone’ law would be established, putting pressure on Westminster MPs to follow suit and triggering abortion decriminalisation in England & Wales
- An abortion ‘free-for-all’ would ensue in the UK, resulting in the killing of many MORE precious babies
2. 'LYDIA' UPDATE: read about her appalling treatment by a leading UK abortion provider and the latest developments with her legal battle against abortion coercion.
Following an excellent VICTORY for pro-life free speech – in which SPUC played its part thanks to your generous support – it turns out that the people pushing for abortion decriminalisation and pro-life censorship zones in the UK – are one and the same.
Read on to find out more:
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Dear SPUC supporter,
In February, Stirling University’s Catholic Society was placed under investigation and suspended.
The reason?
An innocuous Facebook post, simply notifying CathSoc membership of an upcoming peaceful and legal pro-life vigil.
It’s believed that a motion passed by the university’s Student Union last year was to blame,
The motion: “actively oppose[s] all anti-choice protests and activities across Scotland."
The Telegraph covered the story, and SPUC offered the Catholic Society legal support to fight the suspension and defend pro-life speech on UK campuses.
Victory!
The University’s Student Union then backed down and lifted its suspension.
In March, in the Stirling University Brig Newspaper, the Students Union announced that it:
“… did not have the legal means to prevent the Stirling Catholic Society from attending an anti-abortion campaign outside a Glasgow hospital."
Catholic Society committee member, Tobias Bailey, was so taken by SPUC’s offer of support that he became a member.
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Tobias thanked SPUC for backing the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill.
You may recall that the Bill, expected to become law later this year, was drafted specifically to deal with incidences on university campuses where politically incorrect views (like holding the pro-life position) are silenced.
You see, students holding pro-life views on campus are routinely harassed, shut down and met with hostility, even violence.
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This tremendous pro-life victory in Scotland, however, was marred by the news that the country’s newly elected First Minister, Humza Yousaf, has declared that he will seek to decriminalise abortion in Scotland.
As the law stands, killing an unborn child is still a criminal offence unless legally specified grounds are met.
- In most cases, the time limit for abortion is 24 weeks.
But Mr Yousaf wants the 24-week age limit scrapped along with ALL grounds under the Abortion Act to make abortion available on demand ANY TIME up till BIRTH.
The UK abortion lobby has been working steadily to “prepare” the British public to accept the killing of unborn children as normal and safe for women for at least seven years.
Those pushing for a change in the law in Scotland are backed by groups eager to deny pro-life groups their democratic right to free speech and assembly.
Whether by outlawing pro-life vigils that offer vulnerable women opportunities to keep their babies or banning SPUC’s education team from Scottish schools, censorship is their weapon of choice.
One such group is the UK Humanists.
Earlier this year, the Scottish Humanists demanded that the Scottish government investigate SPUC’s educational outreach programme in Scottish schools.
The humanists are also backing a petition by Gemma Clark, an abortion-supporting teacher, calling for the introduction of pro-abortion propaganda in schools—and for the removal of SPUC—something which a Scottish Parliamentary Committee considered in February.
The Humanists have warmly welcomed Mr Yousaf’s appointment:
They said: “We wish Mr Yousaf all the best in his new role and look forward to working with him on issues that the humanist community in Scotland cares about: from assisted dying to LGBT+ rights and abortion healthcare."
Back Off Campaign
Lucy Grieve, is the co-founder of the Back Off Scotland campaign, a campaign which is demanding exclusion zones be set up at abortion facilities, also features prominently on the Scottish Humanist’s website.
Ms Grieve is right behind Mr Yousaf too. She says:
“We will keep going until there is a buffer zone around every facility providing abortion care in Scotland. We also have our eyes on a decriminalisation campaign in the near future.”
BPAS BEHIND ABORTION DECRIMINALISATION AND "BACK OFF" CAMPAIGN
Make no mistake, abortion is a huge business.
Both the Back Off campaign AND the campaign to decriminalise abortion decriminalisation were initiated by the country’s biggest abortion provider, BPAS (British Pregnancy Advisory Service).
BPAS’s approach is akin to that of the tobacco companies who, in the 70s and 80s, lobbied hard to convince us that cigarette smoking was good for us.
To protect its business interests, BPAS is likewise prepared to go to great lengths to convince the British public that killing babies up to birth for any reason is a good thing.
Should they succeed, the impact that this would have on unborn babies and their mothers would be devastating:
- More DEAD babies
When BPAS launched its campaign to decriminalise abortion in 2016, it claimed, “There is no evidence that decriminalisation would lead to an increase in the number or rate of abortion.”
This is FALSE.
For instance, since 2020, when DIY chemical abortions became available via phone or Zoom consultation, a record number of abortions have taken place in the UK:
- In 2019 (the year before the introduction of DIY abortion), 220,990 abortions were recorded in England, Wales and Scotland
- In 2021 (the year after DIY abortion), that number had risen to 228,627 abortions (the highest rate and number ever in England & Wales) – and an additional 7,637 unborn babies were killed by legal abortion that year.
- Abortions up to BIRTH
When the then BPAS CEO, Ann Furedi, appeared on the TV programme Loose Women in 2017, panellists were visibly uncomfortable with her suggestion that abortion should be allowed up to birth—but should it be decriminalised, abortions could take place for ANY reason and at ANY time.
- Baby GIRLS targeted
On the same programme, actress Denise Van Outen challenged Ms Furedi on whether abortion was acceptable on the grounds of sex - and was visibly upset with Furedi’s answer that it's "always down to the woman".
While Ms Furedi’s extremist views are out of step with most of the British public, they are shared and openly supported by several highly influential UK organisations.
Abortion decriminalisation is endorsed by:
- Royal College of Gynaecologists & Obstetricians (RCOG)
- Royal College of Midwives
- British Medical Association (BMA)
- Mumsnet
- Humanists UK
- Amnesty International
In 2017, the Mail on Sunday interviewed Prof Wendy Savage, who sat on the BMA Ethics Committee.
Prof Savage said it was "outrageous" that some hospitals refuse to reveal the sex of the baby during a scan because of fears of sex-selective abortion.
"It’s her body and her foetus, so she should have that information," she said.
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Previously, Savage signed a letter claiming sex-selective abortion is "not gender discrimination" as that term "applies only to living people".
- When the then head of the RCOG, Lesley Regan, led calls for abortion to be decriminalised, she said it should be treated no differently from other "medical procedures" - including something as simple as removing a bunion.
- To add insult to injury, in 2022, Ms Regan (Now Dame Lesley Regan) was appointed the government’s first-ever Women’s Health Ambassador.
Handing over power to people who effectively constitute the abortion industry in this country would be highly irresponsible.
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- Women’s Safety
Contrary to claims made by our opponents, if abortion is decriminalised, women would NOT be safer.
In reality, when abortion regulations are relaxed, more women are put at risk.
Here’s what happened when DIY abortions (when both the pill to start the abortion and the pill to expel the baby’s dead body) were permitted to be taken at home at the start of the Covid pandemic for the first time.
- Freedom of Information (FOI) requests revealed that ambulance call-outs linked to DIY abortion pills rocketed by 64% that year, while some ambulance services saw such calls double in 2020.
- There were 380 reported call-outs related to home abortion in 2019 (when it was only possible to take the second abortion pill at home), while there were 624 in 2020.
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Ann Furedi went on national TV on behalf of BPAS and dismissed the increase and the women involved.
She stated that the women were “in a heightened stage of anxiety” and over-reacting to heavy bleeding and severe pain due to the abortion pills.
However, a study found that over 10,000 – or 1-in-17 – women who used pills-by-post-abortion services in 2020 suffered severe side effects that required hospital treatment.
Of those women:
- 5.9% required treatment because of incomplete abortions with retained body parts
- 2.3% were treated for haemorrhages (heavy bleeding)
- 3% required surgical abortion after abortion pill failure
In another shocking admission, the Government accepted that in 2020, nearly two-thirds of UK abortion clinics failed to meet its safety standards.
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“Stepping Stone” To Abortion Expansion Across the UK
Should abortion be decriminalised in Scotland, this would be pounced upon by our opponents.
BPAS and allies like the BMA, RCOG and the Royal College of Midwives would pressure MPs at Westminster to follow suit and put thousands more unborn babies and their mothers at risk of injury and death.
BPAS et al. claim to care about women, any troubling questions remain over how abortion providers treat vulnerable women, not least when it comes to “consent”.
For consent to be valid and legal, it must be voluntary and informed.
The person consenting must also have the capacity to make such a life-altering decision.
These principles apply to ALL medical procedures, including abortion.
A woman’s consent is invalid if given under duress or pressure from a third party.
The true extent of the abortion coercion problem in the UK is only now coming to light.
SPUC is currently helping one such victim of abortion coercion, whom we must refer to for now as “Lydia” for legal reasons.
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SPUC is funding Lydia’s lawyers to undertake legal action against the clinic that performed her abortion and the medical regulator who subsequently handled her complaint.
Lydia’s Case - UPDATE
Your generous backing has made it possible for Lydia’s to hire one of the UK’s top barristers in this area who believes that Lydia has a strong case against the abortion provider.
Her Counsel said he’s “astonished” at the level of evidence demonstrating that Lydia was under duress whilst attending the clinic at a late stage of her pregnancy and described this abortion clinic as having a “conveyor belt-type culture”.
In addition, research by Lydia’s legal team also points to other grave concerns disclosed in her medical records.
Lydia told me that if she wins her case, she wants to go public about her ordeal and help stop other women from suffering the same fate. In addition, she wants the abortion provider to:
- Issue a public apology
- Change its policy so that ALL patients facing an abortion with the provider must be provided with information on alternatives like adoption.
A case like this could open the floodgates to mass litigation.
When her court battles are finally over, Lydia said she wants to be involved with SPUC’s abortion coercion awareness campaign.
Lydia’s powerful testimony could be a catalyst for change in several important ways, including:
- Heightening media interest and public awareness in this topic
- Prompting further legal actions on a no-win-no-fee basis (this would have the effect of considerably pushing up abortion clinics’ insurance fees and reducing their profits)
- Holding our opponents publicly accountable for their actions
But legal action is costly.
Lydia’s lawyers have informed me that the bill for her legal costs will likely run to at least £150K.
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And before the case against the abortion provider can progress, further legal work needs to be undertaken.
For instance, they are seeking expert advice on the impact that abortion can have on a woman’s fertility and their future prospects of having a family.
Not only has Lydia lost a much-loved child, but she is struggling financially too.
Unsurprisingly, Lydia’s abortion has impacted her mental health, so she cannot work at present.
As a result of her awful experience, Lydia has been unable to sustain her stable, well-paid job with a good pension, and her prospects for further employment have also been badly affected.
I would like to help her by assigning a SPUC staff member, with specialist training in helping post-abortion women, to spend time with Lydia.
We estimate this could entail an additional cost of around £8,000.
Will you support Lydia’s legal fight and help SPUC’s other life-saving work?
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Crucial donations of £20 and £25 and £50 and £100 and £250 and £500 help SPUC to campaign for free speech rights which protect pro-life students on UK university campuses as well as those offering pregnant women help at clinic vigils.
They also help us challenge powerful members of the UK abortion lobby like BPAS, the BMA, RCOG and Amnesty International and their deadly decriminalisation plans.
Larger gifts of £1,000 or £5,000 or more are also vital. They provide the financial clout for SPUC to go even further and take legal action through the courts where appropriate.
Without your support...
- There will be many more victims of coercive abortion, like Lydia, and they will continue to be ignored
- Nor could SPUC campaign to uphold pro-life speech or offer moral support to pro-life bodies on UK campuses, like the University of Stirling’s Catholic Society
- Or go to court to help save thousands of babies, as SPUC does in Northern Ireland.
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Thank you for standing by unborn babies and their mothers.
Yours in defence of life
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John Deighan
Chief Executive Officer
PS – High inflation continues to push up SPUC’s running costs.
The cost-of-living crisis is affecting many of our donors (especially those with families to support), and we are seeing a worrying drop in donations.
This places SPUC at a further financial disadvantage to Britain’s biggest abortion provider BPAS, which can depend on the Government to fund its sordid activities and to see them through these tough times.
Please contribute today if you can to continue the vital fight for our babies.
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