DIY abortion up to birth: what more can YOU do to stop it? 

The fight against Diana Johnson’s extreme decriminalisation amendment goes on. Thousands of you have already written to your MPs - thank you! But there is more we can do to ensure that DIY abortion up to birth does not become a reality in our country.

Last night, we had a successful webinar on lobbying MPs in person on these proposals. I can now reveal that we are also planning a demonstration outside Parliament.

We have until at least 20^th of March until this amendment is debated. While some MPs are signalling their support for Diana Johnson’s proposals, many are horrified at the proposal to legalise DIY abortion up to birth. Some Conservative MPs are even saying that they would defy the Government and vote against the entire bill if it contains this extreme abortion amendment. There is still all to play for.

In this email, I am going to lay out three possible actions you can take to influence MPs to vote against this amendment.

1. LOBBY your MP in person
2. ATTEND our witness outside Parliament (if you are within reach of London)
3. SHARE our MP tool

• Take notes/bullet points about what you want to say. MPs will try and deflect on ideological or political issues, so be sure about the points you wish to raise;
• Thank them for both their time and for one other piece of work they have done that you like. Make sure it isn’t related to the pro-life cause as MPs will take you more seriously if you are not apparently a single issue voter;
• Do not be surprised or dismayed if MPs have not heard about your issue of concern. Unless an issue is of particular or personal concern to them, it is extremely unlikely they know about the amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill, or their full implications;
• Make your points personal. If you can, relate them in some way to your own experience or history, or a friend/acquaintance you can reference anonymously. Personal stories will cut through to MPs much quicker and more effectively that statistics, so tell them why you personally are concerned about the issue you are raising;
• Do not expect to change your MPs mind then and there. They will not have time to get drawn into a long discussion/debate with you, they will many other appointments, surgeries and meetings that day. Your goal is to plant seeds that the MP will think on, and then be reinforced by others speaking to them or writing to them. We will not win these battles on an individual basis, but together we can achieve much.