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Ecuador rejects abortion law which targets unborn babies with disabilities

Ecuador’s National Assembly has rejected an extreme bill which would have legalised abortion in cases where an unborn baby has a disability, such as cleft palate or lip.

On Tuesday, the proposal which discriminates against unborn babies with disabilities fell five votes short of the 70 required for its approval, with 59 assembly members voting against the bill and six refraining.

Had it been approved, the votes would have modified 45 articles of the nation’s penal code and created six provisions to allow abortion in cases where the baby is disabled and in cases where he or she was conceived through rape. 

Ecuador’s current abortion laws have been in place since 1938 and allows abortion under exceptional circumstances, such as there is a risk to the life of the pregnant woman and after the rape of a woman with a mental disability.

According to official data, the current law protects over 500 unborn babies per year from abortion because they were prenatally diagnosed as having a disability.

There were scenes of anger on the streets of Quito, as dozens of abortion activists clashed with police outside the assembly’s building after lawmakers voted in favour of protecting life.

The last time the country debated changing the abortion law in 2013, the assembly voted against it.

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said:

“Ecuadorian lawmakers continue to recognise that life is precious. The reality is that every successful abortion means that a human life has been ended. By voting to protect life, the Ecuadorian Assembly has saved thousands of unborn babies, and potentially more, from having their lives prematurely ended each year.”

“Disabled babies should not be discriminated against through abortion as they are in Britain, where abortion is permitted up to birth if an unborn baby has a disability. Politicians in Ecuador are right to recognise that disabled babies’ lives are just as important and valuable as everybody else’s.”

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Only hours left of the appeal to stop three major anti-life threats.

Only hours left of the appeal to stop three major anti-life threats.

Dear reader,

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of people like you across the UK, the McArthur assisted suicide Bill in Scotland was defeated in March by 69 votes to 57.

Then, in April, the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill fell in the House of Lords.

Many commentators thought both Bills would become law.

If that had happened, governments in England, Scotland and Wales would now be preparing to roll out assisted suicide services.

Over the coming decades, this would have led to the deaths of many thousands of vulnerable people.

But that is not what happened.

Because supporters like you acted, those Bills were stopped.

Because of you, many vulnerable lives have been saved.

These were two very significant victories. But sadly, they are not the last battles we face this year.

The new Parliamentary session began on Wednesday. We now face three major threats.

  1. Attempts to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill and bypass the House of Lords

    The assisted suicide lobby, led by Dignity in Dying, a multi-million-pound pressure group, has made it clear that it is going to attempt to bring back the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill in the next parliamentary session.

    It then plans to use the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords and force the Bill into law.

  2. Labour Government plans for a major expansion of abortion provision, including financial incentives for ‘lunch-hour’ abortions

    Under these plans, the Government would financially incentivise major abortion providers, BPAS and MSI Reproductive Choices, to provide ‘lunch-hour’ or ‘same-day’ abortions.

    ‘Lunch-hour’ abortion services are walk-in abortion services designed to fit into a woman’s lunch hour.

    Women facing an unplanned pregnancy need time, care and support, not a system that gives abortion clinics a financial incentive to rush them through consultations, scans and abortions on the same day.

    If these plans go ahead, many more lives are likely to be ended by abortion here in the UK.

  3. Extreme abortion up to birth proposals in Scotland

    In Scotland, plans are moving forward to introduce an extreme abortion up to birth law. This would go far beyond the abortion law change recently backed by the Lords for England and Wales.

    A review of abortion law in Scotland, commissioned by Humza Yousaf when he was Scottish First Minister, recommended that the Scottish Government scrap the current 24-week time limit – and abortion be available on social grounds, including for sex-selective purposes, right up to birth.

    The final plans are expected to be brought forward as a Government Bill in the new Scottish Parliament, which began on Thursday.

If these three major threats succeed, thousands of vulnerable lives will be lost.

We cannot allow this to happen.

We can only defeat these three major threats with your help.

We ran our biggest campaigns ever to help defeat the assisted suicide Bills at Westminster and in Scotland.

That work has made a serious dent in our limited resources.

To cover this gap and ensure we can effectively defeat these three major threats in the coming months, we are aiming to raise at least £199,250 by midnight this Sunday (17 May 2026).

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

Every donation, large or small, will make a crucial difference in saving the lives of the unborn and many others. Plus, if you are a UK taxpayer, £1 becomes £1.25 with Gift Aid at no extra cost to you.

By stopping these threats, YOU can save lives during this new Parliamentary session.

Will you donate now to help protect vulnerable lives from these three major threats?

EMERGENCY
APPEAL
to SAVE
lives

Only hours left of the appeal to stop three major anti-life threats.

Only hours left of the appeal to stop three major anti-life threats.