Without freedom of speech, we can’t end abortion

NEW YEAR Fundraising Campaign – Day 8
Dear
SPUC supporter,
Freedom of speech and expression are fundamental to ending abortion in our country.

Our opponents know this all too well.

That is why they are using their considerable influence and financial advantage to silence the pro-life message in the UK.

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The sound of silence is killing unborn babies (and hurting women)

Those who oppose our work are censoring the pro-life message on the internet, on the streets and in schools.


1. Shadow banning


Today, social media platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and TikTok are key for campaigning organisations like SPUC to get out their message to the general public, journalists and politicians.

If you are not on these platforms, nobody is likely to notice you.

When there is suddenly a sharp drop in people viewing your posts on these massive platforms – as SPUC has experienced – then there is a good chance a shadowban is in operation.

Shadowbanned accounts are placed into a kind of invisible mode. In other words, they become a “shadow” that no one can see, except the user who is banned.

Shadowbanning occurs when your posts or activity aren’t viewable to other users, but you haven’t received an official ban or notification. In most cases, the user can still see their own content and have no idea no one else can see their posts.

Typically, shadowbans work in the following ways:
* A username or hashtag not showing up in search suggestions
* A decrease in follower engagement
* Blocking certain features (e.g., likes or replies).

With a shadowban or “throttling” - where post views are heavily restricted - accounts just keep posting because they don’t even realise they’ve been banned.

The problem is the practice isn’t totally out in the open, and most platforms deny that they shadowban or engage in throttling, and there’s no way to know for sure that it’s happened—which can make it that much more frustrating.


2. Advertising bans


One way to get around censorship online is to pay for advertising.

But here, the pro-life movement hits another roadblock.

In 2018, the Irish people voted in the nation’s abortion referendum.

In the days leading up to the referendum, Google, announced that it was suspending all online adverts on its search engine and YouTube relating to the referendum.

This was highly significant because mainstream media coverage of the referendum had leaned heavily in favour of the "YES" campaign—which supported abortion legalisation—so was relatively unaffected by the ban.

However, the pro-life "NO" campaign, which opposed abortion, had been highly reliant on Google searches and YouTube ads to redress the balance and get its message out in the run-up to the vote.

Even the Irish Times, which generally has a pro-abortion slant, viewed the development with suspicion.

A report from the newspaper at the time stated that:

“If you wanted further evidence of whom the Google move favours, look no further than the reaction of Yes campaigners and supporters, who wholeheartedly welcomed and applauded the decision."

The Google ban followed the decision by Facebook to ban foreign-funded adverts in the campaign.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg later admitted that his company deliberately banned pro-life adverts from running on the social media site in the run-up to Ireland’s abortion referendum.
Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, admits that he was responsible for initiating the ban on social media ads during the Irish abortion referendum, putting the pro-life side at a big disadvantage

3. School & University Bans


For decades, SPUC speakers have been going into schools up and down the country, spreading the pro-life message.

This infuriates our opponents because they fear that if the next generation hears the truth about abortion, they will reject it.
* Last year, the Scottish Humanists activists demanded the removal of SPUC from Scottish schools and promoted a prominent petition to that effect.

Also, in 2023, Stirling University Catholic Society was placed under investigation and suspended over a social media post encouraging its members to attend a pro-life vigil.

Sadly, this isn’t an isolated case.

Intimidation designed to shut down pro-life speech is widespread on UK campuses.

A 2021 survey revealed that 1-in-4 students are “threatened, abused, alarmed or distressed” for being pro-life at university. The survey conducted by the Alliance of Pro-life Students (APS) found that:
* Over 70% of students faced situations in lectures or seminars where they felt “unable to speak” about their views
* Nearly a quarter have been “threatened, abused, alarmed or distressed – by actions or words – by another student or academic” because of their membership in a pro-life society
* One in three have seen events cancelled due to the “de-platforming” of pro-life speakers
* 65% of students witnessed another student being discriminated against or harassed for holding pro-life views.

4. Censorship (or “buffer” zones)


SPUC has been at the forefront of the campaign to protect the rights of women booked in for an abortion to receive information and practical support to enable them to keep their unborn child.

Again, offering women an alternative “choice” to abortion strikes fear into the hearts of the abortion industry as this threatens their business interests and public image.

It should come as no surprise then that BPAS – the UK’s biggest abortion provider – was the instigator of “buffer zone” legislation passed by Parliament last year and also in Scotland, where a buffer zone Bill is currently before the Scottish Parliament.

Its Back Off campaign is supported by powerful bodies with vested interests whose members/employees financially benefit from mass abortion provision, including:
* British Medical Association
* Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
* Royal College of Midwives
* Brook
* Doctors for Choice UK
* Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health
* FIAPAC (International Federation of Abortion and Contraception Professionals)
* MSI Choices
* NUPAS.

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How SPUC is fighting back

SPUC certainly does NOT intend to give up its valued presence in schools or on social media.

Nevertheless, it must develop NEW ways to circumvent growing pro-life censorship and grow our movement.

One way I would like to do that is by direct “Face-to-Face” engagement with the general public.

Heart-to-Heart

Last month saw the official launch of SPUC’s new Heart-to-Heart street campaign.

The campaign is based on Britian’s largest pro-life youth street campaign, Project Truth, which each summer engages 2,000 members of the public in towns and cities across the UK.

We estimate the cost of the campaign to be in the region of £79,000.
The Heart-to-Heart campaign is providing important opportunities to raise awareness among ordinary people and save lives by:
* Opening up discussions about the humanity of the unborn child with passers-by
* Gathering useful insights about how people feel about the issues we deal with, thus enabling the development of “messaging” which resonates more effectively with the public
* Collecting signatures for petitions which build pressure on Parliament to protect the unborn
* Issuing crisis pregnancy helpline numbers
* Providing important FACTS about how abortion harms women.

This last point is particularly important because many women today are living under the misapprehension that abortion has no harmful consequences for them when the opposite can often be true.
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Face-to-face engagement cuts out the Big Media middlemen and the Big Tech censors

Trustworthy evidence warning of the physical and psychological dangers of abortion is something the public will not hear about in the mainstream media, but with Heart-to-Heart it can be imparted freely without any restrictions.

Robust evidence which stands up to scrutiny and can help to change the way the public thinks about abortion.

For instance, SPUC recently commissioned renowned bioethicist Dr Greg Pike to gather evidence from around the world demonstrating how harmful abortion can be for women.

The paper’s findings include:
1. Elevated risk of suicide among women who have had abortions
2. Increased mortality rates among women who have abortions
3. Significant levels of coercion from a third party to abort.

(Funds permitting, I would also like to circulate free copies of Dr Pike’s Abortion and Women’s Health research paper to UK doctors in 2024).

Will you give £10, 0r £20 or £5 or £50 or £100, or £500 or £1,000 or £5,000 or more to help beat pro-life censorship and alert the public to TRUTH about abortion?

DONATE ([link removed])
Thank you for standing up for pro-life Truth.

Yours in Defence of Life
John Deighan
​Chief Executive
PS – I have listed 4 ways that the pro-life message is being silenced:
1. Shadowbanning on social media platforms like Facebook
2. Online advertising bans on Google
3. Bids to ban pro-life speakers from schools and UK campuses
4. Buffer Zone legislation

But there is a fifth reason why censorship is happening… lack of pro-life funding.

Our wealthy opponents like BPAS, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the government-funded Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health have deep pockets.

SPUC, on the other hand, must rely solely on rank-and-file supporters across the UK like you to be a voice for the unborn and women.

That’s why I must ask you to support our work today with a donation, if you can.
DONATE ([link removed])

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