Eleventh hour judicial review is last hope is last hope for an estimated 6,000 unborn babies

Summer Appeal
Dear Friend and Supporter,

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, wants the power to enforce an extremist abortion agenda which we estimate could lead to the killing of up to 6,000 unborn babies each year.

Abortion law in the Province is “reserved” to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

That means only the Northern Ireland Assembly can pass laws on abortion.

However, on 28 April, the Westminster Parliament passed The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 giving Mr Lewis an unprecedented level of power to dictate abortion policy in Northern Ireland.

Mr Lewis has now issued a Directive demanding that the devolved government at Stormont provides funding and resources for the full rollout of abortion “services” by the end of March next year (2022).
SPUC played a key role in keeping liberal abortion out of Northern Ireland for more than five decades, including winning several key legal cases. Here, Liam Gibson, SPUC Northern Ireland Political Officer, is seen celebrating a victory at the High Court in Belfast, in 2010.
Good News
I am delighted to report that SPUC has been granted leave to seek a judicial review that will challenge the rollout of Mr Lewis’s radical new abortion Regulations and this gives us some hope.

SPUC will argue in court that the new powers the Secretary of State has given himself are unconstitutional and must be overturned.

Unborn children deserve the best possible legal representation available.

That's why I am extremely pleased to tell you that SPUC has secured the services of John Larkin QC, the former Northern Ireland Attorney General, and a leading authority on the legal and constitutional issues relating to the Northern Ireland devolution settlement.

Of course, ensuring that the unborn get top lawyers comes at a price.

The final bill for this vital action against the Government is likely to surpass £150k, and that's why I must call on you today for your support.

This is a make-or-break moment.
* If SPUC’s legal challenge is successful, Stormont could wrestle back power on abortion matters and an estimated 6,000 unborn babies who could be killed by the new abortion regime each year might be saved

Should it fail:
* The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland will simply dictate abortion law from Westminster
* Thousands of unborn children will certainly meet horrible deaths
* The largest section of the electorate there will be effectively disenfranchised on the issue of abortion.


Safest place for unborn babies

Prior to the passing of the Executive Formation Act 2019 which decriminalised abortion in the Province without regard to the Northern Ireland Assembly, abortion law in Northern Ireland had provided the most robust legal protection for unborn children anywhere in the UK.

In 2017/18, for instance, there were just 12 abortions carried out there.

That's a far cry from the estimated 6,000 unborn babies who could be killed each year under the new legal regime triggered by the Regulations.

The Regulations are a chilling litany of anti-life measures “cut and pasted” from the list of “recommendations” of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

CEDAW’s 2018 Report on Northern Ireland explicitly calls on the UK government to adopt legislation expanding the grounds for legal abortion but which also includes:
* Criminalising and even imprisoning peaceful participants at pro-life prayer vigils
* Compelling schools to tell pupils how to get an abortion behind their parents’ backs
* Denying groups like SPUC access to schools, opening up schoolchildren to undiluted abortion propaganda and brainwashing in the classroom.

To add insult to injury Mr Lewis’s new abortion Regulations were drawn up to comply with the demands of a CEDAW committee based over 1,000 miles away from Belfast in Geneva, Switzerland, leaving the Northern Ireland electorate, once again, totally disenfranchised.

Next stop England, Wales and Scotland?

Should the new Regulations be fully implemented in Northern Ireland, the abortion lobby will surely demand that the UK government export the same anti-life/anti-family CEDAW “recommendations” to the rest of the UK demanding “equality” for women in Britain.
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And it’s not just unborn babies’ lives that are at stake in Northern Ireland.
1. Jobs: Medical professionals may well be pressurised to participate in the killing of unborn children against their conscience, or find themselves looking elsewhere for work should they refuse
2. Freedom of Speech: Our opponents have already tried to ban SPUC’s billboards in Belfast city centre and their supporters have vandalised them.

Free speech is essential for SPUC and others who are the voice of unborn children.

Without it, pushing back against the prevailing tide of pro-abortion propaganda and influence in the corridors of power will become impossible.

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Will you consider making a donation today of £15 or £25 or £50 if you can?

SPUC’s judicial review may be the last opportunity to block full-blown abortion reaching the shores of Northern Ireland.

That’s why if you can help support this last-gasp legal action and SPUC’s other important life-saving work with a larger gift of £100 or £500 or £1,000 or more it could contribute to an historic outcome.

Thank you for standing with unborn babies.

Yours in defence of life
John Smeaton
Chief Executive

PS - Supporters like you are the lifeblood of our work.

Nothing gives SPUC’s staff more encouragement than knowing that you are right behind us backing our work.

It's really NOT the amount of your contribution that's important.

Rather it's your involvement in this great movement and your wonderful solidarity with and commitment to our unborn babies.

Every penny we receive during the month of August will move us a step closer to our summer fundraising appeal target of £81,000 and ensure that unborn children continue getting the top legal representation they deserve.
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