This is Day 8 of our Summer Email Fundraiser
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Dear SPUC supporter,
The foundational myth of the Abortion Empire is choice.
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But how much “choice” is there for a woman who is coerced into an abortion against her will?
There is no doubt that the abortion industry has a serious problem with coercion.
The true extent of this problem in the UK is only now coming to light.
- A recent BBC survey found that 15% of all women of childbearing age have experienced pressure and coercion to have abortions.
- The pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute admits that 30% of women have abortions because someone other than the woman wants it.
- In a recent ComRes poll of UK doctors, commissioned by SPUC, 86% of GPs said that they were “concerned about the risk of women being coerced into DIY abortions”.
Abortion coercion takes many forms.
It can be blatant, and even violent.
But often, the pressure is a lot more subtle:
- Employers can make women feel irresponsible for becoming pregnant and inadvertently push them towards abortion
- Parents can make clear that they won’t be offering necessary support
- Partners show that they are unhappy with a pregnancy – even if they’re not actively coercing an abortion.
It’s entirely natural for women to worry about what impact having a new baby (and “continuing a pregnancy”) will have on them and those around them:
- It might make a relationship end
- It might make women feel that they will be judged for having brought “shame” on the family
- It might reveal an extra-marital relationship.
However you look at it, a woman is especially vulnerable in the early stages of her pregnancy.
The future can feel very scary, even when the pregnancy is expected, planned for and desired.
This is not the time to be introducing an additional pressure factor into the emotional mix.
Nor should women feel pressure from clinic staff to go through with an abortion – especially when those same staff stand to gain financially from a bonus if they convert clinic appointments into actual abortions.
If we want a world where abortion is unthinkable, we MUST hack away at this foundational myth of choice.
Thanks to supporters like you, SPUC is helping one survivor of abortion coercion, whom we must refer to for now as “Lydia” for legal reasons.
SPUC is funding Lydia’s lawyers to undertake legal action against the clinic that performed her abortion and the medical regulator who subsequently dealt with her complaint.
Let me tell you how Lydia’s atrocious abortion experience unfolded.
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Lydia’s awful experience
When Lydia’s ex-partner and some of his family members found out that she was pregnant, she was pressured to have an abortion.
One of these family members was a medical doctor.
During an ultrasound scan, Lydia was informed that she was around 20 weeks (5 months) pregnant.
Under very pressurised circumstances, the ex-partner’s doctor relative told Lydia that her child could be born “deaf and disabled.”
(Lydia’s GP later said that he knew of no evidence suggesting this could be so.)
- Lydia alleges that she was threatened that if she did not terminate the late pregnancy, her ex-partner’s family would go to court to try to prove that she was an unfit mother.
Under unrelenting pressure on a daily basis from her ex-partner’s family, Lydia decided to take her own life. Thankfully the police arrived in time to save her.
- In a final bid to get her to go through with the abortion, her ex-partner contacted Lydia’s wider circle of friends in the hope she could be convinced to abort her child.
She attended the clinic for her abortion consultation, and she told the abortion clinic staff that she was being pressured into having an abortion – and that she wanted to keep her baby.
(You’d think at this point they would offer her help, wouldn’t you? Or refer the matter to the police? But these opportunities to save her and her baby from all this were not taken.)
Lydia was transferred to a waiting room, where she was prepared for a surgical abortion.
You could say that “the rest is history.”
But it’s not history for Lydia.
It’s painfully present for her.
She has to live with the trauma of this horrifying event, which could have been completely avoided, had the abortion staff listened to her.
But it’s not in the interests of the abortion industry to avoid abortions.
Sadly, cases of abortion coercion are NOT rare. Coercion impacts many thousands of pregnant women across the UK every year.
- A helpline run by SPUC’s charitable trust reports that 2 out of every 3 calls it receives involve coercion of some sort.
YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Your generous backing has made it possible for Lydia to hire one of the UK’s top barristers, who believes that Lydia has a strong case against the abortion provider.
Her Counsel said that he’s “astonished” at the level of evidence demonstrating that she was under duress whilst attending the clinic at a late stage of her pregnancy.
He 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.
- Unsurprisingly, coerced abortion also has a terrible impact on mental health.
As a result of her awful experience, Lydia has been unable to sustain her stable, well-paid job with a good pension.
- Her prospects for further employment have also been badly affected.
But when Lydia was told that SPUC supporters were helping to fund her fight for justice, do you know what happened?
She was left speechless for several minutes.
When she was able to speak, this is what she said:
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“Despite having so many other issues around the world from humanitarian crises to wars, people have chosen to support me - me, kind of like a nobody.
“To be honest, I am still in a state of disbelief and cannot believe that I will actually get help. I am humbled.
“I am truly thankful to God, and to every single person who has trusted me without even knowing me and contributed. I am forever grateful and I feel indebted.
“My unborn child was innocent and could have been alive had I known earlier that help was available, and that there would be people who would believe me and also support me - without even knowing me.
“I think it takes a big heart to support someone like me without even knowing me.”
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Lydia is a brave woman, and a fighter. She 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).
But a case like this could also open the floodgates to mass litigation.
AND THIS IS HOW WE MAKE ABORTION UNTHINKABLE.
When her court battles are finally over, Lydia said she wants to be involved with SPUC’s abortion coercion awareness campaign.
Her 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, reducing their profits and thus HITTING THEM WHERE IT HURTS)
- Holding our opponents publicly accountable for their deeds.
But there is a cost involved with taking legal action.
The lawyers informed me last month that the bill for Lydia’s 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 future prospects of having a family.
This is the way to fight abortion decriminalisation, and to build a world where abortion is unthinkable – by helping the women most affected by abortion.
But 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.
It’s a simple matter of money in and money out.
If less money comes in, then we will have to cut the money going out.
But how do we decide which ESSENTIAL project to cut?
That’s why we need YOUR HELP – TODAY.
Will you help Lydia and SPUC’s other life-supporting 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 abortion decriminalisation plans.
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Larger gifts of £1,000 or £5,000, or £10,000 or more are also vital. They provide the financial clout to go even further and take legal action through the courts where appropriate.
Without your support, it’s impossible to help victims of coercive abortion, like Lydia, or to go to court to help save thousands of babies, like SPUC did in our recent Northern Ireland legal cases.
Without your help, the precious infants we are sworn to protect will die.
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Thank you for standing by unborn babies and their mothers!
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John Deighan
Chief Executive Officer
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PS: The abortion coercion awareness campaign is an important component in achieving SPUC’s long term goal – a world where abortion is unthinkable.
Historical examples like the abolition of slavery and women’s suffrage show how deeply entrenched social views can be changed through effective campaigning and educational work – not to mention legal action.
Reaching out and building a strong, unified pro-life coalition composed of people from different religious, cultural and political backgrounds who share our vision will be essential.
So, too, will be persuading key professionals who can help effect change in their own spheres of influence – e.g. in the world of medicine, academia, journalism and, of course, politics.
That’s why we cannot afford to let up the pressure now, and why we need your help TODAY.
Will you invest in SPUC’s vision of an abortion-free Britain with a monthly contribution of £10 or £20?
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