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Brave mother with cancer refuses abortion and delays treatment, given all clear

A 21-year-old mum who delayed cancer treatment rather than have an abortion has now been given the all clear.

Ellie Whittaker from Chesterfield was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in October 2019 while she was also 16 weeks pregnant. Ellie was told that chemotherapy to treat the cancer could harm her unborn baby, so her doctors told her she should have an abortion.

“I don’t regret my decision and I’d make the same one again given the choice.”

Ellie refused to have an abortion and decided to delay chemotherapy until after her daughter was born.

‘The doctor advised I have an abortion because cancer treatment could cause problems for the baby. There was no way I was going to give her up so I chose to delay it.’

‘I pushed the cancer as far from my mind and focused on Connie – I couldn’t wait to be a mum.

Her daughter, Connie, was born on 18th March 2020, and by that time the cancer had progressed. Ellie started treatment almost immediately after the birth.

She said: ‘I tried to spend as much time with Connie as I could before I started. I remember crying and thinking I wouldn’t be able to be there for her.

‘I knew the chemotherapy would take its toll.

‘But when they scanned me the cancer had progressed to stage three – it had spread to my stomach and spleen.’

The all clear

Ellie underwent 12 gruelling rounds of chemotherapy between March and September before doctors finally gave her the all clear in October 2020.

“I’m so pleased it’s gone and I can focus on being a mum.”

“Connie’s an amazing baby – she started teething and trying to sit-up. She’s the quietest baby and sleeps through the night. I wouldn’t change her for the world.”

Pressured to have an abortion

Women are advised or even pressured to have abortions for many different reasons. They are often pressured to have an abortion if doctors think their child might be disabled. 

In 2017, a damning report from the UK’s Care Quality Commission (CQC) accused Marie Stopes International (now MSI Reproductive Choices) of paying staff bonuses for persuading women to have abortions.

In October of this year, a nurse in the UK said she was left fearing for her life and needing emergency surgery after MSI Reproductive Choices denied her proper counselling and pressured her to take abortion pills at home, rather than under the supervision of a doctor in a clinic.

Right To Life UK’s spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: “It’s wonderful that Ellie is now free of chemotherapy and her daughter is healthy. It’s so encouraging to see this brave mother refuse an abortion despite potential risks to her own health.”

“Sadly, in this case the doctors are endorsing a form of twisted logic that says: ‘Better to have an abortion than risk harming the baby.’ In reality of course, nothing could harm the baby more than ending his or her life through abortion.”

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.