Dear Pro-Life Friend,
As you will know by now, Carla Foster was released from prison after judges reduced her sentence on appeal.
In June, Ms Foster was sentenced to more than two years (28 months) in prison for illegally taking abortion pills, resulting in her unborn baby girl’s death.
She was possibly EIGHT months pregnant at the time of the abortion.
Carla Foster pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 58 of the Offences Against the Person Act (OATPA) 1861.
|
|
Over time, prison terms for breaking this 1861 law have been drastically reduced.
Appeal Court judges pointed to "exceptionally strong" mitigating circumstances in the Foster case.
But the ruling will only serve to diminish further the meagre level of legal protections that unborn children in the UK enjoy.
A case in point is when news of Carla Foster’s release broke last month, Amnesty International (AI) immediately pounced on it in order to push its pro-abortion agenda.
AI Director Chiara Capraro claimed that the ruling:
"... underscores the urgent need for abortion to be decriminalised in England and Wales."
And Amnesty International won’t be the last high-profile organisation to use the court’s decision as a clarion call for abortion to be made available up to BIRTH for ANY reason.
Working in concert
The abortion lobby’s tentacles of influence reach far and wide, and those who profit most from abortion financially are its principal driving force.
As well as supplying Carla Foster with the pills which killed her unborn child, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has campaigned relentlessly for the scrapping of laws which in any way limit abortion in the UK.
When it comes to expanding abortion killings in the UK, the role played by BPAS – the UK’s biggest abortion provider – should never be underestimated.
- In 2016, BPAS’s We Trust Women campaign – which called for the scrapping of what they claim are “cruel, archaic abortion laws” like the 1861 OATPA - had already enlisted the support of the Royal College of Midwives and Women’s Aid.
The decision for the Royal College of Midwives to join the BPAS campaign was taken by its President, Professor Cathy Warwick, who was also Chairman of Trustees at BPAS.
- In 2018, The Mail on Sunday revealed that senior BPAS executive, Mandy Myers, had been advising the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) on its abortion policy.
According to the report Ms Myers, the then director of operations at BPAS, joined the steering committee of the RCN’s Women's Health Forum "to get more involved in driving the agenda in women's health at the RCN".
She then initiated a debate at the RCN's annual conference on "the merits of decriminalising abortion".
The college's executive council subsequently took up the matter, highlighting "work on the decriminalisation of abortion" as an "operational priority" for 2018. As expected, the RCN backed decriminalisation.
In doing so, it joined the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), the British Medical Association (as well as the Royal College of Midwives).
|
|
A ‘mandate for parliamentary action’.
At Carla Foster’s sentencing in June, BPAS CEO Clare Murphy cynically twisted Justice Pepperall’s closing statement describing it as a “mandate for parliamentary action”.
Justice Pepperall had actually expressed dismay with the abortion industry after the RCOG and other pro-abortion groups wrote to him requesting leniency for Carla Foster.
The judge said it was “inappropriate” for the abortion lobby to interfere in the judicial process.
He soundly rebuked it and said it should lobby MPs - not judges - if it wanted to change the law.
|
|
|
A photo of my twin grandsons taken shortly after they were born at 36 weeks gestation — just 2 weeks older than Baby Lily Foster was when abortion pills supplied by BPAS killed her.
|
|
|
MEDIA PARROTING ABORTION LOBBY PROPAGANDA
There can be no question that BPAS is leading the charge to scrap the UK’s abortion law.
Also indisputable is that large sections of the popular media are aiding and abetting this BPAS-inspired campaign.
By describing the current law as “archaic” and “cruel”, the media are complicit in fanning the flames for OATPA repeal and, with it, the abolition of the slim but crucial legal protection that the current law offers unborn babies and their mothers in Britain.
Indeed, the lack of balanced reporting is clear to see.
- A lengthy 925-word BBC News report published after the initial sentence was announced devoted NINE paragraphs to statements from BPAS and leading pro-abortion MP Stella Creasy.
- However, it failed to print even a single word from any pro-life organisation.
|
|
|
WHY IT’S CRITICAL ABORTION MUST REMAIN A CRIMINAL OFFENCE IN THE UK
Social scientists say that the threat of legal sanctions alone is often NOT why people refrain from breaking the law.
Instead, studies show that “ethical values” (ideas of right and wrong) underpin criminal laws. It’s these ethical values which give legislation its force.
Our understanding of ethical values is in turn influenced by the criminal law itself.
If people are told that something is legal, then they believe that it is ethical – and act accordingly.
In other words, laws can radically influence our behaviour, even those we disagree with.
Taxation and banning smoking in public places are classic examples of how new legislation can ascribe positive ‘values’ to measures hitherto frowned upon by large sections of society.
Last year’s Dobbs ruling overturned Roe v. Wade, the legal case that in 1973 made abortion legal across all 50 American states.
The US Supreme Court ruling meant that abortion could be restricted or outlawed at the discretion of individual states.
|
|
|
Since Roe v Wade was overturned last year:
- 25,000 FEWER abortions have taken place in the US
- 61 abortion facilities have closed
- 20 [out of 50 US] states have enacted pro-life laws
- 13 states have completely banned abortion
Source: US human rights group Live Action
|
|
|
Pro-life laws save lives.
But this decline cannot simply be attributed to women no longer being able to access abortions.
- Many large corporations offer to pay employees to travel out of state to obtain abortions
- In addition, there is also easy access to low-cost abortion pills online.
There can be no question that pro-life legislation—whether it limits or entirely outlaws abortion—promotes the positive “ethical idea” that unborn human life has intrinsic value.
This means that some women who would ordinarily opt for abortion will REJECT it instead.
But ethical “values” embedded in legislation can also work in reverse:
By decriminalising abortion in the UK, a negative ethical “idea” would be introduced.
The appalling notion that human life in the womb no longer has ANY worth or merits ANY protection – at whatever STAGE – would become ‘normative’ – the default, normal view.
|
|
|
Infanticide next?
Should that happen, what would stop abortion providers like BPAS from going one step further and campaigning for fully-blown infanticide?
They could argue that if it’s not a crime to kill a fully developed UNBORN child, then why should it be a crime to kill that same baby one week – one month – or two months – AFTER its BIRTH, should the mother’s ‘health’ be endangered?
For this reason, I believe abortion decriminalisation is THE greatest challenge SPUC has faced in a generation.
Countering BPAS and the abortion lobby in Parliament will require a superhuman effort from the pro-life side.
Our opponents have had ample time to prepare their case for changing the law. Their plans are well advanced. They have millions at their disposal to advertise and influence the public and politicians. They have the mainstream media on their side too.
Time is short.
This gives them a MAJOR advantage over the pro-life side.
If we are to save unborn babies and their mothers from the horror of late abortions like those experienced by Carla Foster and her baby daughter, Lily, we must act NOW.
|
|
HOW SPUC PLANS TO BLOCK ABORTION DECRIMINALISATION
SPUC’s senior management team is putting the final touches on our Action Plan to counter BPAS and the abortion industry’s sinister bid to decriminalise abortion in Britain.
I want to give the campaign the working title of ‘The Carla & Lily Foster Campaign’.
This makes it clear that SPUC is on the side of BOTH babies AND mothers.
At her trial, Carla Foster expressed great regret over the death of her daughter—whom she named Lily.
The court heard how Ms Foster was "wracked by guilt" and suffering from depression after being “plagued by nightmares and flashbacks to her dead child's face”.
A woman with a crisis pregnancy is desperate and, therefore, vulnerable.
This makes it easy for those who promote, facilitate and profit from abortion to prey on her whilst showing scant regard for her safety and wellbeing.
That’s why SPUC’s campaign will firmly target the UK Government and the abortion industry.
To succeed, it must incorporate several different approaches, including:
- Seeking legal opinion and explore legislative options
This would entail consulting with SPUC’s lawyers and seeking the advice of political experts.
The Government refused to listen to SPUC in 2020 at the start of the Covid lockdown when it warned about the dangers of DIY abortion pills-by-post schemes.
We made it clear then (and repeatedly since) that the ONLY way to prevent pills from being issued after the 10-week cut-off point and to avoid tragic cases like Carla Foster’s, is by carrying out an ultrasound scan beforehand—something which is simply impossible to do when operating an abortion ‘telemedicine’ policy.
Had they listened, baby Lily might still be alive, and her mother might not have been sent to jail.
Learning from pro-life colleagues
SPUC Director, Michael Robinson, has recently returned from the USA, where he spoke at length with some of the leading pro-life figures responsible for the remarkable pro-life successes witnessed in America over the past year or so.
The Texas Heartbeat Act—for example—bans abortions at the point when foetal cardiac (heart) activity can be detected around the 6th week of pregnancy.
- Its introduction has effectively outlawed abortion in the state because, in most cases, when the mother realises that she is pregnant, the baby’s heart will have already started beating
Estimated cost: £11,000
- Public awareness campaign
As mentioned above, the mainstream media has a deep and blatant bias.
Still, among the general public, there is a sense of unease that Lily’s late-term abortion should ever have been allowed to happen.
I want to build on that sentiment.
Success will involve obtaining the services of a professional media consultant with the necessary expertise required to persuade media outlets to platform the pro-life position.
Estimated cost: £14,000
- Social media campaigns on Twitter and Facebook
Social media is a highly cost-efficient way of targeting the specific audiences we must reach to avert a disaster in Parliament.
This includes MPs and Peers, religious faith communities, and the healthcare professionals tasked with carrying out gruesome late-term abortions should the Offences Against the Persons Act be repealed.
Estimated cost: £12,000
|
|
But SPUC can only do this with your help, and TIME is running short.
Time is running out, and fresh funding is urgently needed to facilitate the campaign.
We must be ready to fight for unborn children when Parliament returns in the autumn.
The abortion lobby has a big head start on us, and they are already pressing their case hard.
Over the coming weeks and months, I expect them to:
- Escalate their campaign to scrap Section 58 of the Offences Against the Persons Act
- Urge their highly-placed contacts to lobby the Government behind the scenes
- Hijack Parliamentary bills by seeking opportunities to tack on abortion decriminalisation clauses to them - as they have tried to do before
We have JUSTICE on our side.
But our opponents are holding all the cards.
They are far wealthier than SPUC.
They have the sympathy of the pro-abortion media.
They have the ear of senior politicians.
Most of the big medical bodies are backing them.
|
|
Can I call on YOUR support to resist them and preserve our life-saving UK laws so cases like Carla Foster’s and her daughter Lily’s do not become commonplace?
Kind donations of £20 and £25, and £100, or £250, are the backbone of the Society’s work in the courts and the UK Parliament.
They have saved countless lives over the years.
With your generous support, they can do so again.
|
|
Donations of £500 or £1,000 or £5,000 or £10,000 or more have an incredible effect too.
Implementing a major campaign to uphold protective laws that help save babies’ lives will be impossible without them.
|
|
Thank you for protecting precious babies and their mothers, like Lily and Carla Foster.
Yours in Defence of Life,
|
|
John Deighan
Chief Executive
|
|
PS – The Belfast Court of Appeal has rejected SPUC’s legal challenge to the Secretary of State’s bid to implement the UK Government’s abortion agenda.
This has come as a massive blow.
Two weeks after the Court’s ruling, Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris, issued new regulations based on the United Nations CEDAW recommendations.
MPs voted 373 to 28 to implement regulations that force ALL schools in the Province (including Catholic ones) to teach children between 11 and 16 how to ACCESS abortion.
For these reasons – and for the sake of the 6,500 babies the Secretary of State estimates will be killed each year under the new CEDAW regime – SPUC is seeking leave to appeal the decision and take the case to the Supreme Court (Britain’s highest appellate court).
We cannot abandon the struggle with so many precious babies’ lives hanging in balance. But seeking permission to appeal the latest ruling will cost around £10,000.
Should an appeal be granted, a further £50-60K—unbudgeted money—will need to be found.
|
|
PPS - The latest abortion figures show a HUGE increase of 17% in England and Wales and 19% in Scotland
Never before in my 25 years of involvement as an activist or in leadership positions in the pro-life movement has there been such a sharp acceleration in the killing of unborn babies.
Mothers and unborn babies have never been so vulnerable.
|
|
PPPS – The gap between our income and essential expenditure has been growing due to outside factors like the national cost-of-living crisis.
If we cannot balance the books, CUTS must be made.
But given the Abortion Lobby’s relentless assaults on our precious babies, now is not the time to make cuts – in fact, we need to spend more on their defence.
That’s why I urge you to contribute TODAY if you possibly can.
|
|
|
|
