We just wanted to update you on the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill.
Yesterday afternoon, Claire Bailey MLA attempted to use a procedure to fast-track the Bill so that it received its Final Stage last night. However, members of both the TUV and DUP objected to this Final Stage debate happening a day earlier than would usually be allowed under Standing Orders at the Northern Ireland Assembly.
This means that the Final Stage has been delayed until tomorrow evening (Thursday 23 March).
This gives extra time to get one more signature on the Petition of Concern to ensure the Bill is stopped.
Please do use this additional time to do anything you can to help get this final signature.
We have included below this email the two steps I made contact with you about yesterday. These provide an easy-to-follow outline of what you can do to help. If you haven’t been able to complete these yet, please do go ahead and do these now.
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STEP ONE
We have launched a new email tool with new email content centring on the story of Alina, who kept her baby after meeting pro-life volunteers outside an abortion clinic. We need to flood MLA inboxes with Alina’s story now.
If you are based in Northern Ireland, the first step we need you to do is send that email to your local MLAs. Please click the button below to visit the new tool and email your MLAs now:
STEP TWO
There are a small number of MLAs who have not signed the Petition of Concern who are most likely to sign it from among the group of MLAs who have not signed.
I have listed them below.
There are a very large number of people who will be reading this in Northern Ireland now and there is likely to be someone from among these people who knows one of these MLAs well enough to persuade them to sign the petition or knows someone who knows them who can do this.
Please look at the list below and if you have a relationship with that MLA or know someone who does, if you can, please drop everything you can now and make your focus for this afternoon to be getting a way to have a conversation with that MLA.
| Name | Party | Constituency |
| Sinéad Bradley | SDLP | South Down |
| Dolores Kelly | SDLP | Upper Bann |
| Robbie Butler | UUP | Lagan Valley |
| Trevor Lunn | Independent | Lagan Valley |
| Chris Lyttle | Alliance | Belfast East |
| Daniel McCrossan | SDLP | West Tyrone |
| Rosemary Barton | UUP | Fermanagh & South Tyrone |
| Mark Durkan | SDLP | Foyle |
| Cara Hunter | SDLP | East Londonderry |
| Stewart Dickson | Alliance | East Antrim |
To help out with that conversation, our Public Affairs team has put together a short document that outlines concise answers to specific objections we have been getting from pro-life MLAs who are currently not signing the Petition of Concern. It should be really helpful for conversations. You can access that resource by clicking here.
If you do have a conversation with any of these MLAs, please do let us know what they have said and if they have agreed to sign.
In addition, if you need any help with conversations with an MLA from this list, please reply to this email and I will organise for one of our team to have a call with you.
Finally, if you don’t live in Northern Ireland, but are on Facebook, you can help out by clicking here and sharing Alina’s story.
If you are not on Facebook, you can help out by forwarding this email to friends and family in Northern Ireland.