It has been a very challenging and busy year for our team at Right To Life UK, with the abortion lobby’s relentless campaign to introduce extreme changes to abortion legislation that would allow abortion right up to birth.
Thanks to your support, we have been able to put up a strong fight every time they have attempted to advance their campaign in Parliament, the media and amongst the wider public.
Alongside this, we have been able to secure several key victories and achievements. I wanted to share some of these with you and thank you for your support.
These important victories could not have happened without you.
1. Preventing the introduction of an extreme abortion law that would allow abortion up to birth
In 2023, the abortion lobby spent huge amounts of money to boost their lobbying and campaigning efforts to achieve a drastic change to our abortion laws that would allow abortion up to birth.
This campaign has been led by the UK’s largest abortion provider, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which ends the lives of over 70,000 babies each year.
BPAS have a budget of over £35 million each year, which they use to perform abortions and to lobby for more extreme abortion laws. They also have the support of 23 other organisations, who are joining them in this campaign, and who have collective funding that runs into the tens of millions of pounds.
As you will probably recall, BPAS posted abortion pills to a woman who was pregnant with her baby, Lily, who was between 32 and 34 weeks gestation, without conducting an ultrasound scan or a physical examination to accurately determine the gestation of the baby.
If BPAS had seen this woman in person, the actual gestation of the baby would have been identified, meaning the abortion could not have taken place and this tragedy would have been averted.
BPAS put this woman’s life in danger and caused the death of baby Lily at over 32 weeks gestation, which is around 7-8 months.
But instead of taking responsibility for this tragic outcome, BPAS shamelessly used this case to put pressure on MPs and the Government to make radical changes to our abortion legislation that would allow abortions to take place through all nine months of pregnancy.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to email their MP asking them to oppose introducing these extreme changes to abortion legislation. Your work writing to your MPs has given MPs the confidence to be able to stand up and speak out against this relentless campaign.
Thanks to your support, we have been able to successfully counter the abortion lobby at every point of this major campaign, which they have now been running for a number of years.
The abortion lobby will not be giving up on their campaign though.
They have two amendments tabled to the Criminal Justice Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament. These amendments would make extreme changes to abortion laws, and it is expected that they will have an opportunity to take these proposals to a vote early next year. This will require a very large amount of work to defeat.
2. Three important pro-life bills introduced to the House of Lords
In November, Baroness O’Loan, Baroness Eaton and Lord Moylan had the First Reading of their pro-life Bills that they were introducing to the House of Lords.
Baroness O’Loan’s Bill would reduce the abortion time limit from 24 weeks to 22 weeks.
Baroness Eaton’s Bill would require the Government to conduct a review into the risks associated with at-home medical abortions.
Lord Moylan’s Bill would create a committee that operates on an ongoing basis as a source of evidence-based, scientific expertise on the sentience of the human foetus in the light of developments in scientific and medical knowledge. The Committee would advise the Government on the formulation of relevant policy and legislation.
This is the largest number of pro-life bills that have been introduced in a single parliamentary session.
These three bills will ensure that the pro-life perspective on the areas of policy they focus on will be debated extensively in Parliament, the media and wider society. This will help raise the profile of these issues and build further momentum for changes to our abortion legislation that will save lives.
These bills will also provide an opportunity to proactively put the pro-life perspective on the agenda along with putting the abortion lobby on the back foot.
We are expecting the three Bills to progress to Second Reading early next year.
3. Growing network of MPs and peers to further our proactive political strategy
During 2023, our Public Affairs team has worked to offer support to a large number of pro-life MPs and Peers, and support them to grow their network further.
This has built on the already large number of MPs and Peers we have a direct relationship with and has enabled us to work with them to prevent extreme changes to our abortion legislation and build momentum for positive pro-life changes to our laws.
This work in Parliament is supported by providing vital information to the public through digital resources such as our Where Do They Stand voting record platform. This provides up-to-date information on where MPs stand on life issues along with a full account of their voting records.
We have combined this with a major update to our EasyAction MP contact tools to make it even easier for people from around the country to contact their MPs with well-researched pro-life messaging that helps make the pro-life case for positive change to our laws to MPs.
Thank you to everyone who has either emailed or visited their MPs throughout the last year. You have played an important part in ensuring MPs feel that they have the backing of their constituents when it comes to courageously speaking out in Parliament in support of the unborn child and pregnant women.
4. Helping shape the mainstream media narrative on the life issues
Significant policy change on life issues in Parliament can only happen if it is supported by a broader change to the wider culture.
A crucial part of our work to change the wider culture on these issues is ensuring that pro-life messaging is heard in the mainstream media regularly.
In 2023, we have further expanded our media reach with a specific emphasis on getting positive pro-life messaging regularly featured in the mainstream media.
Our focus on mainstream media is vital because this allows us to reach a large middle ground of people, with a focus on areas where research shows the majority of people are very receptive to seeing positive political and cultural change in relation to our abortion laws.
This can often be a challenge given that many in the media are hostile to the right-to-life point of view. Although it can be challenging, we have found there are several key areas where we have the upper hand in terms of public support. This includes highlighting the issues with our current extreme abortion time limit, sex-selective abortion and abortion for disabilities including Down’s syndrome, cleft lip and club foot.
We have been able to target these areas to effectively shape the debate towards a wider recognition of the right to life of the unborn child and the need to support mothers who are dealing with unplanned pregnancies.
Wherever possible, we have ensured that the spokespeople we deploy as the voice on these issues in the media are most likely to connect with mainstream audiences. This has included women who have been personally affected by abortion, people with disabilities and medical experts.
5. Growing our digital strategy to change even more hearts and minds of a new generation online
We have worked on further growing our digital strategy this year, developing smart, engaging and viral-focused content to reach a much larger audience online.
This has enabled us to reach a new generation of people on a massive scale through our growing presence on social media across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn and TikTok.
Thanks to people like you sharing the content that our digital team has produced, our content on social media has been viewed tens of millions of times. This includes beautifully produced videos, imagery, news articles and resources, designed by our team from the ground up to change hearts and minds on life issues.
We have further developed our in-house digital video capacity to respond to the spectacular growth of short-form video content online. This has allowed us to produce a series of world-class videos that we have rolled out in our campaigns and on social media. In fact, one of our videos has been viewed over 10 million times!
Alongside this we have further developed our in-house capability to produce world-class digital content – all of this has been produced by our own digital team for a fraction of the cost of hiring top-tier creative and digital agencies.
6. Expanding our network of grassroots campaigners in constituencies around the country
In 2023, we have been able to expand our network of grassroots campaigners in constituencies around the country, thanks to supporters like you who have encouraged and inspired friends and family to get involved.
On the front line in Parliament, this means that as soon as a challenge or opportunity arises that requires immediate constituent pressure, we can mobilise this network of tens of thousands of campaigners, who are based right around the country, to contact their MPs on this issue.
This sends a clear message to MPs that their constituents strongly oppose abortion, influencing them to vote the right way on these issues. For pro-life MPs, this demonstrates that they have the support of a large part of their local constituency, empowering them to courageously speak out on life issues in Parliament.
In terms of changing the broader culture on life issues, this growing network of grassroots campaigners has also been equipped with the resources they need to spread the pro-life message, not only to their local MPs but also to their friends, families, and local communities.
7. Development of Right To Life News to reach even more people and keep them informed with news on life issues
Over the last year, we have expanded the Right To Life News digital news platform, reaching a wider audience with pro-life news, keeping people informed, and helping shift even more hearts and minds towards a culture of life.
Our website is already the most viewed pro-life website in Europe and the fourth most viewed pro-life website globally – and the expansion of our digital news platform has enabled us to connect with even more people.
Our digital team has built the platform from scratch to provide visitors with a world-class user-driven design experience that rivals those of major global media outlets.
We currently have strong direct relationships with senior journalists in several mainstream media outlets, which ensures that we get to regularly comment in the media. However, we can’t always guarantee that these articles will include all the crucial points that the public needs to be aware of regarding a specific issue.
Right To Life News ensures that the public have a trustworthy platform where reliable pro-life news is accessible to everyone in the UK and beyond. This ensures that we are not constrained by what editors in major newspapers decide to publish.
A big thank you to the many supporters who have consistently used the news service and shared the articles. This has significantly contributed to the success of this news service.
In 2024, we plan to roll out new features that will help expand the number of people we reach with well-crafted, valuable content through the news service and our broader website. This will help ensure we reach many more people.
8. Our education and training programmes are developing a new generation of pro-lifers
Our education and training programmes are developing a new generation of pro-lifers who are armed with the knowledge and skills to effectively communicate an evidence-based case for positive change on life issues.
Our Internship Programme immerses student right-to-lifers and new graduates in the world of the right-to-life movement and its work spanning media, politics, education, and grassroots involvement.
We also work on training young pro-lifers on how to effectively communicate on pro-life issues in the media. This has equipped these young people with the skills and techniques they need to deliver strong interviews, control difficult and hostile questions and deliver an authentic pro-life perspective on life issues.
In conjunction with our extensive digital outreach, we’ve been able to educate and develop a new generation of young individuals who are committed to driving positive change on life issues. In 2024, we plan to further expand our education and training programmes.