Dear
SPUC supporter,
A General Election will almost certainly take place this year.
But what will it mean for those at greatest risk of being killed?
- Unborn babies AND women will face increased dangers
- With the spectre of assisted suicide looming over Britain, the General Election could also have deadly repercussions for vulnerable people in the UK who are:
- Dying
- Disabled
- Clinically depressed
- Children
|
|
|
KEIR STARMER TO BACK ASSISTED SUICIDE BILL
In an LBC radio interview in January, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer made it clear that if a private members’ bill seeking to legalise medically assisted killing comes before Parliament, he intends to give it government time.
The Starmer statement is significant in TWO important respects:
- It is a departure from the position adopted by previous Labour and Conservative leaders who have remained neutral or opposed on the question of legalising assisted suicide or euthanasia
- Private members’ Bills tend to fall because they run out of Parliamentary time needed to pass into law, even if enough MPs vote for them.
This would all change, however, if Keir Starmer, as Prime Minister, provided Government time to such a Bill.
All that would be required then for the UK law to change would be for Parliamentarians to vote for it, and they would be free to do so without fear of going against the party whip.
And the threat of medicalised killing would NOT end there.
How they normally do it: “One step at a time”
When faced with strong opposition, the cross-party euthanasia lobby is inclined to proceed with caution.
Its typical modus operandi is to propose “restrictive” laws to begin with—then, when a new law has passed—push to gradually expand the law to include more and more categories of vulnerable people, with fewer and fewer so-called safeguards.
We saw a good example of this type of ‘restrictive’ bill the last time a bid to change the law in England and Wales was attempted.
Baroness Meacher’s 2021 Assisted Dying Bill limited eligibility for assisted suicide to:
- Mentally competent adults
- with a terminal illness
- a life expectancy of six months or less.
Buoyed by the support of a new Labour government, there would be a real risk that the cross-party euthanasia lobby will go for an “expansive” law right from the start.
This is what happened in Spain in 2021.
As well as terminal illnesses, euthanasia was legalised there in “one go” for people with non-life-threatening physical conditions AND mental illnesses.
In Canada, things are so bad that people are agreeing to euthanasia in order to avoid homelessness, going hungry, or missing out on basic healthcare.
Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition writes a regular blog cataloguing the growing number of what can only be described as horror stories coming out of Canada since euthanasia was legalised there in 2016.
What began as a “choice” to die is becoming “no choice” but to die for some.
|
|
|
Slippery slope: Canada legalised euthanasia in 2016. MAID deaths now account for 4.1% of all deaths there.
|
|
Take the case of Rose Finlay:
CBC News reported last June, that Rose Finlay was scheduled to die by Medical Assistance in Dying (euthanasia) within two weeks.
Ms Finlay, 33, has been a full-time wheelchair user since a diving accident when she was 17.
She applied for MAID because she was unable to get the disability support services that she required.
Finlay explained that it takes 6 - 8 months to be approved for disability support but according to the federal government's website, the approval period for MAID is only 90 days.
"That tells me that our government is not prioritizing the lives of disabled people and that it is easier to let disabled people go than it is to actually give them the assistance that they need," Finlay said.
Or Amir Farsoud:
Amir Farsoud (then 54) was considering death by euthanasia to avoid homelessness.
City News Toronto reported in October 2022 that Farsoud, who lives with constant back pain, had to find a new apartment because his new landlord planned to renovate the building.
Farsoud, dependent on disability benefits, couldn’t find another affordable apartment.
He applied for euthanasia based on his disability, but really he wanted euthanasia based on his fear of homelessness.
Mr Farsoud remains alive because a GoFundMe appeal allowed him to find a new home.
(Alex Schadenberg says that thanks to another successful fundraiser Rose Finlay is alive and well, and even has a new job)
But, he says, Mr Farsoud and Ms Finlay are the exceptions to the rule.
Meagan Nichols (Foodbank operator):
Ms Nicholls told MacLean’s magazine that some of her food bank clients were seeking euthanasia in response to going hungry.
“We’re at the point where clients on these programs are telling us they’re considering medically assisted death or suicide because they can’t live in grinding poverty anymore.
“A client in our Food Bank 2 Home delivery program told one of our staff that they’re considering suicide because they’re so tired of suffering through poverty.
“Another client asked if we knew how to apply for MAID for the same reasons. I don’t know how to ring the alarm bell any louder,” she said.
ABORTION LAW REFORM
Decriminalisation of abortion is THE biggest legislative threat facing unborn babies and women in the UK, right now.
Should the existing law be stripped of the few remaining protections it offers to unborn babies—such as the 24-week time limit for abortions (with exceptions for disability)—MORE babies will die, and MORE women will be hospitalised.
Labour pledges to ‘decriminalise’ abortion should it get into power.
Two of the main drivers of further liberalising abortion laws, Diana Johnson and Stella Creasy, are Labour MPs – having them both in the party in power is sure to ratchet up the danger.
But I must make it clear that the threat to defenceless babies and vulnerable mothers cannot be apportioned solely to Labour.
The Tories' recent record on abortion has been woeful, with record numbers of unborn children falling victim to the present Government’s abortion policies.
Kevin Duffy, public health consultant and former research director at SPUC, stated last month (February) that annual abortions in 2022 in England and Wales are expected to amount to 250,000 for the first time.
A staggering 42,000 increase in unborn babies killed in the space of a year.
That’s a substantial 17% year-on-year increase on 2021, dwarfing the average annual increase in abortions—of under 3%--over the past 53 years.
CENSORSHIP: THE LATEST THREAT TO THE UK PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT
Scotland remains the only UK jurisdiction where pro-life vigils are legal.
But that may be about to end.
The Scottish Greens, who have a power-sharing agreement with the SNP, have introduced a Bill at Holyrood which would criminalise vigils north of the border, too.
|
|
In February, this front-page headline appeared in a Scottish newspaper
Whilst routinely painting pro-lifers as “extremists” the media across the UK ignores the fact that so-called “buffer zones” deny vulnerable women the “choice” to access eleventh-hour help to keep their babies.
Only pro-life vigils offer this.
But clearly, denying freedom of assembly to peacefully express a position on abortion does not go far enough for the abortion lobby.
|
|
In Manchester, last month, what can only be described as a hate-fuelled “mob” set upon a group of young pro-life students, several of whom are SPUC branch members.
Their crime?
Exercising their legal RIGHT to free speech on campus.
Doing so brought the wrath of pro-abortion supporters upon them:
- They were issued with death threats and rape threats
- And had it not been for a strong police presence, the violent attack on Manchester Uni’s pro-life society could have resulted in serious injuries and possibly worse.
Make no mistake, our opponents want the pro-life movement shut down and shut up.
GENERAL ELECTION AND INFLUENCING PARTY POLICY
SPUC is non-party political, so we never endorse political parties.
Instead, we back individual politicians of all the main UK parties, endorsing pro-life candidates regardless of party affiliation.
Developing strong ties with MPs is vital.
Well-informed and strongly motivated pro-life MPs can do a power of good, even influencing abortion policy at the highest level within their own party structures.
That’s why I want to launch a powerful General Election campaign to help more pro-life candidates get elected to Parliament this year.
But I need your help to raise £71,000 to fund the campaign which would include:
NEW Campaigning Tool
Informing and holding prospective parliamentary candidates to account—in equal measures—will only be possible by mobilising our branches and supporters.
|
|
|
State-of-the-art online campaigning tool: Its launch will enable the public to lobby General Election Candidates in a simple 3-step process in just a few minutes
|
|
To facilitate this, we are making a big investment in a ground-breaking online tool that allows supporters to contact not just their sitting MP, but ALL candidates running for election in their constituency for the very first time.
Cost: £13,000
|
|
2nd Parliamentary Officer
With an abundance of funding fuelling it, the abortion lobby has been building up contacts in Parliament to bolster support for its deadly cause for years.
SPUC has some catching up to do. I want to add an additional lobbyist to strengthen our parliamentary team and build relationships with MPs and Peers in this critical run-up period to the election.
Cost: £35,000
|
|
Branch Network
Politicians are never more willing to listen to voters than at election time. We must grasp this opportunity.
SPUC’s 55-strong branch network have been instrumental in swinging past elections the way of pro-life candidates.
Having feet on the ground has always been a strength for SPUC, especially in dioceses where many branches have SPUC representatives in churches.
I want to deploy branch activists to reach the UK’s millions of Christian voters.
Ideally – and funding permitting – this would entail having a SPUC branch representative based in every church in the country,
But this will entail considerable investment in our grassroots activity over the coming weeks and months, primarily in the form of 30 campaign meetings and 7 branch training
days.
Estimated cost: £23k
|
|
I hope you can see how critical this General Election is and what lies at stake.
Not only are we fighting to blunt the attacks on Britain's unborn children, but vulnerable people, such as the sick and dying, now face the real threat of being put to death, too.
A biased media, plus wealthy abortion and euthanasia lobbies are against us.
So is time. That’s why I must call on your help TODAY.
Will you donate £10 or £20 or £35 or £50 or £100 or £500 or £1,000 more to help us mount a General Election campaign with real clout which will save lives?
|
|
|
Yours in defence of life,
|
|
John Deighan
Chief Executive
|
|
STOP PRESS: France has become the first country in the world to make abortion a ‘constitutional’ right.
On March 5th, French Parliamentarians voted to “guarantee” abortion by 780 to 72.
The abortion lobby is looking to do something very similar in Britain. Later this month (March), the House of Commons is expected to consider proposals to decriminalise abortion here in the UK too. Abortion up to birth, for any reason, could be imminent.
Make no mistake. This is our “1967” moment.
This is the biggest threat to unborn babies in England and Wales for 50 years.
Dame Diana Johnson’s amendment (New Clause 1) to the Government’s Criminal Justice Bill would remove ALL criminal restrictions relating to abortion.
This amendment seeks to change criminal law so that “no offence is committed by a woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy”.
This would permit DIY abortion up to birth for any reason and mean that a woman could
- Induce her abortion at home using pills (or any other method) at ANY stage of pregnancy, regardless of the risks to her own health or to her baby’s life.
And this would be perfectly legal.
I want to step up the pressure on MPs so that they vote against this barbaric amendment, beginning with a live Zoom webinar that offers supporters guidance on lobbying MPs.
However, addressing this emergency will require additional expenditure, and that’s why I urge you to make a donation TODAY if you possibly can.
|
|
|
|
