Dear Friend and Supporter,
Thanks to you, countless unborn babies’ lives have been saved.
Through your kind one-off donations and enormously helpful monthly direct debit contributions, supporters like you have made it possible for SPUC to sustain a whole range of vital life-saving actions in the courts and in Parliament.
Given the sheer magnitude of the abortion holocaust today, it is good to routinely reflect, take stock and take heart from the major accomplishments that have been achieved on behalf of unborn children despite all the odds, thanks to you.
The most recent success is a victory for freedom of speech which upholds the legal right to speak up publicly on behalf of unborn babies
In June, pro-abortion MP Rupa Huq met with defeat when her move to criminalise pro-lifers who offer women attending abortion clinics support was rejected by a House of Commons Committee.
The Labour MP’s amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 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.
Hundreds of SPUC supporters submitted evidence calling on the public committee scrutinising the bill to reject this amendment.
The volume and quality of pro-life submissions sent to the Public Bill Committee made the difference.
The amendment was withdrawn after Victoria Atkins, a Home Office Minister, made it clear that the Government would not support it.
The Minister said that a “blanket ban” on “protest activities” would not be proportionate. She said that only 35 out of the 142 registered abortion clinics had recorded any pro-life activity.
Recognising the strength of pro-life feeling, Ms Atkins said: “We must acknowledge that there are colleagues and members of the public who want to defend their right to make their feelings and their views known in front of these service providers.”
However, there are still dangers for pro-life activity in other parts of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
But, for now at least, we can take heart from an important victory for women and unborn children, and for the right to free speech, which is essential if we are to continue defending them.
We can also take encouragement from these other SPUC achievements which have saved so many lives and which would not have been possible without your support.
Grassroots campaigns – 2010 to 2018
2010 – Marie Stopes International abortion “adverts” on TV stopped.
A huge SPUC grassroots campaign saw the Advertising Standards Authority receive the highest number of complaints for a TV commercial at that time. The ads were STOPPED, and not one has appeared since.
2009/10 – After intense lobbying from SPUC, the then Labour government dropped the radical anti-life, anti-family sections in its Children, Schools and Families bill.
If unopposed, this bill would have increased legal pressure on schools, including Catholic and other faith schools, to help pupils access contraception and abortion – without, of course, the consent or knowledge of parents.
2015 – Rob Marris MP’s 2015 Assisted Dying Bill was defeated in Parliament and a threat to the lives of thousands of vulnerable people was averted.
MPs received hundreds of letters from SPUC supporters asking them to oppose the bill. Some commentators even say that that strong expression of pro-life feeling among constituents has kept further doctor-assisted killing laws at bay in Britain ever since.
[Meanwhile countries, like Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium, have succumbed with thousands of sick and vulnerable people being killed each year.]
2018 – A Home Office Review rejected calls from the abortion lobby for new legislation banning pro-life vigils at abortion clinics.
A concerted campaign by SPUC’s grassroots supporters – which saw up to 80,000 postcards sent to the Home Secretary – proved pivotal in making this victory happen.
Legal challenges: 2001 to 2021
2001/2 – The High Court allowed SPUC to bring a judicial review of the government’s policy to make abortion-inducing morning-after pills available over-the-counter at pharmacists without prescriptions.
Though ultimately unsuccessful, this landmark case had a major delaying effect, slowing up the implementation of the Blair government’s flagship Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, a central plank of which was the doling out of abortion-inducing birth control drugs to under-age girls at shops like Tesco, and eventually in schools, without the knowledge of parents.
2011 – A major legal victory at the High Court saw attempts by abortion giant BPAS to facilitate macabre medical “bedroom” abortions firmly blocked.
Legal arguments submitted by SPUC played a prominent role in the court reaching a judgment which derailed BPAS’ plans to give women abortion drugs to administer themselves at home.
It would be a further six years (2017) before home medical abortions were finally sanctioned by the Scottish government (see 2018 judicial review below). Thousands of babies were saved by the delayed implementation of this abhorrent policy.
2012-15 – SPUC backed two senior midwives who steadfastly refused to supervise abortions on a Glasgow labour ward.
The brave pair’s battle of conscience through the courts lasted for several years before arriving at the Supreme Court in London.
Though the Court’s ruling went against Mary Doogan and Connie Wood, the midwives’ long legal battle succeeded in highlighting in a very public way a grave injustice against people of conscience working in the NHS.
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2018 – SPUC instigated a judicial review of the Scottish Government’s policy allowing abortions to be completed at home without medical supervision.
This legal action delayed home medical abortions not only in Scotland, but also in England, where we estimate that up to 17,000 babies’ lives may have been saved as a result.
1-in-4 pregnancies now ended by abortion
But despite all these wonderful successes, there is never a moment to rest on our laurels.
Figures released in June show that 210,860 abortions were carried out in England and Wales in 2020, the highest number since records began.
- DIY home abortion is now the most common method of abortion
- 85% of unborn babies were killed by chemical abortion, where the mother takes abortion drugs
- In 2019, a harrowing 25% of all pregnancies were terminated.
Dark as the situation today may be, extinguishing hope in our hearts to the possibility that one day Britain will be abortion-free can never be an option for us.
If people like you and me who fill the ranks of the pro-life movement do not continue to speak up against the senseless killing of unborn children, who will?
The answer is that if you and I don’t raise our voices, no one else will.
Not the mainstream media, not the political parties, and increasingly not even religious groups will stand with the unborn.
Meanwhile our opponents are pressing ahead with their plans to increase the killing of unborn babies, immune from justice for the bloody carnage they are wreaking.
Will you help STOP an expansion of the carnage against unborn children?
- In Northern Ireland SPUC is taking the UK government to court at a cost of £150,000 to block a radical abortion programme.
SPUC projects that as many as 6,000 unborn children could be killed in the province every year under the new abortion Regulations set down by the Westminster government unless we stop them.
- A government review of DIY home abortions is set to be announced soon.
We have been gathering hard evidence to present to the government, including testimonies from women who say that their life has been ruined by DIY abortion.
Surveys commissioned by SPUC show that a majority of GPs (86%) agree that women are at risk of being coerced into abortion by the current home abortion policy.
Will you chip in to protect babies today?
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No gift is ever too small.
No matter the amount, it will go to work immediately to save lives.
It’s true that the odds, as ever, are heavily stacked against us.
But a donation – even one of £10 – could be what swings things our way.
It could make all the difference in a judicial review like the one currently before the courts in Northern Ireland.
Or a bill in Parliament like the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which called for jail sentences of up to two years for anyone at an abortion clinic offering women help to keep their babies.
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We don’t have the public presence of an Amnesty International – our cause is far too politically incorrect to be hailed by the popular media – but if there’s one thing you can be sure about, it’s that SPUC will always punch above its weight.
It has done so many times in the past.
And it will do so again, so long as it has your support.
Thank you for your great love and loyal commitment to our unborn babies.
Yours in defence of life
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John Smeaton
Chief Executive
PS – SPUC is entirely dependent on the financial help of its supporters for its continued existence.
Because we value our independence, we don’t take a penny in Government handouts, Lottery or corporate grants.
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