Dear Friend and Supporter,
Our opponents know that by undermining long established and hard fought for political and human rights, the pro-life movement can be silenced.
The legal rights they are deliberately targeting right now, and which they fear the most are:
- The Right to Assembly
- The Right to Free Speech
They see them as major obstacles hindering their goal of legal abortion up to and even immediately after birth.
Let me be clear: It is NOT possible to fight for the right-to-life without these two fundamental rights.
Muting the voices of those who, like SPUC, champion the rights of unborn children is certainly a logical step to take if your goal is full blown abortion or worse.
The level of apathy that exists in Britain today is helping to smooth the passage of legislation which only a generation ago would have been considered unthinkable.
Who, for instance, would have dreamed that it would be perfectly legal today for women and girls to abort their own babies – in their homes – without any medical supervision – without even the need to see a doctor first?
But that’s just what’s been happening for the past 18-months under the government’s DIY abortion policy and hardly anyone has batted an eyelid.
The hard truth is that all that stands in the way of the abortion lobby delivering full blown abortion on demand up-to-birth, and yes, even infanticide, is you, me and a small band of souls like us.
Back in March, Labour MP Rupa Huq tabled an amendment to the Police, Crimes, Sentencing and Courts Bill that sought to introduce “exclusion zones” prohibiting any pro-life presence at abortion clinics anywhere in the UK.
Thankfully, in June this dreadful amendment was blocked in a great pro-life victory.
Huq had called for jail sentences of up to two years for anyone who “advises or persuades, or attempts to advise or persuade”, “informs or attempts to inform” or “seeks to influence” a person regarding an abortion decision.
Without question, the volume and quality of pro-life submissions sent to the Public Bill Committee by SPUC supporters made the difference this time.
But things could have been very different.
Our opponents have succeeded in persuading a number of local authorities to act unilaterally and censorship zones around abortion clinics in towns like Ealing, in west London, have already been imposed.
You will probably not be surprised to learn that Britain’s biggest abortion provider, BPAS, is behind efforts to change the law to deny their political opponents’ right to freedom of speech and assembly.
The “Right to Assembly” and “Freedom of Speech” are saving babies’ lives
Our research shows that many women feel pressured or coerced, or feel that they have no other choice but to have an abortion.
A few women “turn around” at the very last moment and decide not to go through with an abortion because help is on hand from pro-lifers at the clinic.
Indeed, this year alone 118 unborn babies were saved from abortion in “turn arounds” during the first week of the worldwide 40 Days for Life Lenten vigils.
When that happens abortion clinics miss out on their fee.
A quick check on its price list shows that BPAS charge £680 for a surgical abortion up to 14 weeks.
One estimate suggests that clinics could be losing as much as £100,000 a year because of “turn arounds”.
Rupa Huq claims that pro-life pavement counsellors tell women that they “are going to hell” and that women entering abortion clinics are “filmed, followed and given propaganda that is inevitably medically wrong and unwanted."
But after reviewing the evidence in 2018, the then Home Secretary Sajid Javid rejected calls for so-called buffer zones at clinics.
Mr Javid said that the typical activities of those protesting outside abortion clinics "include praying, displaying banners and handing out leaflets".
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He added that there were "relatively few" reports of more "aggressive activities", such as "displaying graphic images, following people, blocking their paths and even assaulting them."
I would point out that “reports” of pro-lifers following people and assaulting them are just that, reports, or more precisely, “allegations” made by our opponents.
If such allegations were indeed true, I find it inconceivable that the police would not have been called and charges laid against the perpetrators, but – after 47 years in the pro-life movement – I can count the number of times this has happened on one hand.
Conversely, we are witnessing a steady increase in violence against pro-life people who have been attacked physically whilst legally, passively and peacefully protesting abortion in public settings.
Our opponents are not restricting their efforts to cancelling the free speech and assembly rights of pro-life counsellors at abortion sites only.
A landmark UK Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights report published in 2018 highlights a clear and widespread "problem of free speech" on university campuses across the UK.
Indeed, the report makes frequent reference to the fact that: "many of the incidents in which free speech is restricted” involved students who held a pro-life viewpoint.
A SPUC Scotland survey this year confirms that view. It revealed that one in four students are “threatened, abused, alarmed or distressed” for being pro-life at university.
The survey, conducted in partnership with 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
- 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.
The Joint Committee’s Report was a trigger for the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill which was introduced to the House of Commons on 12 May 2021.
The Freedom of Speech Bill promises great things but there could be a sting in the tail.
Though the Bill has received cross-party support, and every party has affirmed its commitment in principle to freedom of speech, each has differed on what the appropriate response in universities ought to be.
It would be extremely naïve to exclude the possibility that prominent backers of abortion and exclusion zones won’t be working away behind the scenes with a mind to disbarring pro-lifers from speaking openly against abortion on campuses.
BPAS, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives, for instance, are all fervent proponents of exclusion zones and they hold enormous political sway.
The possible introduction of damaging amendments to the Bill which would deny pro-lifers alone from claiming their free speech rights therefore cannot be ruled out.
We must be ready to combat any such efforts to hijack the Bill
The Bill reaches its Committee Stage in September, when it will be debated by Parliament.
We need to avoid this Bill becoming a Trojan horse where in the end only politically correct views are afforded legal protection and those on the fringe – like the pro-life position – are further marginalised or indeed outlawed altogether.
And we need to prevent too demands – like those of Rupa Huq's – that pro-life "perpetrators" are imprisoned.
And that's why a sizeable injection of funds is required in the month of August to ensure SPUC's campaigning budget remains in the black and can cope with the growing demands being placed on it this Autumn.
Will you donate £25 today to cover the costs of this vital campaign which we anticipate will involve expenditure of around £105,000?
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In order to succeed, a modern political campaign must effectively get across key messages which resonate with both the politicians and their constituents.
First, a Research Strategy is needed to gather convincing evidence and build a solid case for support. This will involve:
- Employing specialist academics who are top in their field of research who will gather personal testimonies, crunch the numbers and create case studies
- Producing professional marketing communications which grab attention and hold the interest of the politicians and the public and make them think again about the plight of our babies and those who are going to quite heroic lengths to defend them
- Testing different messages to see which work and which don’t.
Then a Communications Strategy has to effectively deliver those messages to their target audiences. This requires:
- Hiring a professional consultant to ensure the widest possible coverage of our campaign in the press and TV news, on and offline
- Advertising on social media like Facebook and Twitter to gain greater reach and a wider awareness of our campaign, the critical issues involved and prompt action among the public
- Arranging grassroots action – like gathering petition names – in our local branches and among SPUC’s many thousands of individual activists
With just THREE days of our summer appeal left to run, another £44,056 is still needed to reach our £81,000 appeal goal.
That's how much is needed to fund our:
- Double judicial review challenge in Northern Ireland and an eleventh hour bid to save an estimated 6,000 unborn babies each year
- Deliver a professionally executed autumn campaign to ensure that the Freedom of Speech Bill is not hijacked and the right to speak freely and publicly for the unborn is protected in law.
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One-off gifts of £10 or £15 or £35 or £50 or more are immensely valuable and important.
I want you to know that at whatever level you can afford to give, your money will go to work immediately to stop the “abortion holocaust” that has afflicted the UK since 1968 and has now claimed in excess of 9 million defenceless precious lives.
Yours in defence of life
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John Smeaton
Chief Executive
PS – MP Rupa Huq is an abortion fanatic. Like all fanatics, Dr Huq won’t tolerate others’ views should they conflict with her own.
That’s why good and selfless people praying and offering help at abortion clinics and those speaking out for the unborn in our universities are being denigrated and the public deceived.
Please help SPUC safeguard these vital rights to assembly and free speech by backing our Freedom of Speech campaign with a donation TODAY if you can.
Without them, it will NOT be possible to restore the right to life of our unborn babies.
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