Urgent appeal to build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.
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Baby born at just 22 weeks goes home after 144 days in hospital

A couple have been able to take their premature baby home after he was born measuring about the size of his father’s hand.

Jorge Joachin and Vatsanah Vongpana were taken by surprise when baby Malakai was born at just 22 weeks and one day. He weighed less than one pound and had to be taken to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where he was cared for by medical staff.

“It’s been a rollercoaster”, Jorge said. “That’s for sure”.

“I never thought I would be here, being able to hold him, and like, bring him home”, Vatsanah said. “It was a different experience than I really thought I was gonna have”.

Malakai was in hospital for 144 days

When his parents were finally able to take him home, staff members of the hospital lined the corridor to give Malakai his send-off.

“They’re not human”, Joachin said of the medical staff. “They’re like superheroes”.

The hospital informed Fox6 News Milwaukee that Malakai is one of the youngest and smallest babies to survive there. He now weighs seven pounds seven ounces.

When asked what he sees when he looks at Malakai, his father said “I see a miracle. A baby miracle”.

Medical advances have left a contradiction at the heart of our abortion law

Babies like Malakai born at 22 weeks are younger than the gestation when babies can be aborted in the UK. There is a clear contradiction at the heart of our abortion law and current medical practice.

On the one hand, the law permits ending the lives of babies at 22 and 23 weeks, and, on the other hand, current medical practice strives to save the lives of many babies born prematurely at 22 or 23 weeks gestation.

The annual abortion statistics for England and Wales in 2021 reveal that 755 “ground C” abortions were performed when the baby was at 22 or 23 weeks gestation (ground C is the statutory ground under which the vast majority of abortions are permitted and there is currently a 24-week time limit for abortions performed under this statutory ground).

At the same time, according to a recent study, there were a total of 261 babies born alive at 22 and 23 weeks, before the abortion limit, who survived to discharge from hospital in 2020 and 2021.

This means in the same hospital, on the same day, two babies at the same gestational age (22 or 23 weeks gestation) could have very different fates – one could have his or her life deliberately ended by abortion, and the other could be born prematurely and have a dedicated medical team provide the best care they can to try to save his or her life.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “These amazing stories of premature babies like Malakai surviving from just 22 weeks are so important for demonstrating the humanity and resilience of life in and out of the womb. Our abortion law has remained out of date for far too long and it is about time that the time limit for abortion was reduced to reflect the medical advances of the last few years”.

Urgent appeal 
to save liveS

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.

Dear reader,

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of people like you across the UK, after a two-year battle, MPs voted by 286 to 270 to reject the Edwards assisted suicide Bill.

This followed the defeat of the McArthur assisted suicide Bill in Scotland by 69 to 57 in March this year.

Many commentators thought both Bills would become law.

If that had happened, this would have led to the deaths of many thousands of vulnerable people over the coming decades.

Because supporters like you acted, those Bills were stopped.

Because of you, many vulnerable lives have been saved.

A prominent pollster described the campaign against these major attempts to introduce assisted suicide, which brought together people from all walks of life across the UK, as one of the “most successful 21st Century UK social issue campaigns”. You helped make that possible.

WHY WE MUST NOT STOP HERE

What we have achieved together is extraordinary. But we must not rest on our laurels.

Dignity in Dying, a multi-million-pound pressure group, has made clear that it will keep campaigning to legalise assisted suicide. 

We cannot wait until another Bill is brought forward. We need to keep pressing for better care and strengthen the case against legalisation now.

WHAT COMES NEXT

The next phase of our Support Not Suicide campaign will operate across Parliament, media, online and in grassroots communities in every constituency across the United Kingdom.

Our focus now is to build on that momentum from the defeat of these assisted suicide Bills and make these victories last.

We want to build a United Kingdom where assisted suicide is seen as unnecessary – and where legalising it is seen as unthinkable.

The first part of that work is a sustained push for universal access to high-quality palliative, hospice and social care. No one should feel driven towards assisted suicide because they cannot get the care and support they need. 

We have already asked supporters to contact their MPs about improving care. With your help, we will keep that pressure on in every constituency, brief MPs and Peers on gaps in care, and make the case for better provision in the media.

The second part is building on these wins to ensure more MPs and more of the wider public understand the dangers of legalising assisted suicide. We will put evidence of those risks before MPs and Peers. We will work with mainstream journalists to bring the voices of people directly affected, doctors and other experts into the national conversation, and produce clear videos and articles that supporters can share online and in their communities.

Our network of 250,000 supporters covers every constituency in the UK. Thanks to people like you sharing our content, our posts and videos have been viewed more than 100 million times online in the last year. 

We want to utilise that massive reach for this next phase of the campaign.

WE CAN ONLY DO THIS WITH YOUR HELP

The two-year fight to stop these Bills drew heavily on our limited resources.

To replenish those resources and fund the next phase of the Support Not Suicide campaign, we aim to raise at least £199,250 by midnight this Sunday (4 October 2026).

We are, therefore, appealing to you to please give as generously as you can today.

Every donation, large or small, will make a crucial difference in protecting vulnerable lives. Plus, if you are a UK taxpayer, £1 becomes £1.25 with Gift Aid at no extra cost to you.

Will you donate now to help make these victories last and protect vulnerable lives?

Urgent appeal 
to save liveS

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.