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Google Doodle celebrates the life of midwife pioneer with pro-life imagery

The search engine, Google, celebrated the life of Justine Siegemund, a 17th-century midwife responsible for the first comprehensive guide to childbirth in Germany, by using imagery that clearly depicts the unborn child.

Google regularly produces temporary alterations to its logo on its homepage to commemorate a person or event of historical importance. This temporary alteration has come to be called a ‘Google Doodle’. 28 March, as Google explains, was the anniversary of the certification of a pioneering midwifery textbook, The Court MidWife, written by German midwife, Justine Siegemund.

Born in 1636 in Rohnstock, Lower Silesia, now part of Poland, Siegemund’s book was certified on 28 March 1690. It represented a massive step forward in midwifery at a time when the knowledge that midwives accumulated was largely passed on through oral traditions.

As Google explains “After an apprenticeship, Siegemund began her career in midwifery by offering free services to underprivileged women. She soon became known for her ability to safely guide women through difficult births, and word spread quickly to expecting women across the country”.

“Thank you Justine Siegemund for setting the foundation for modern childbirth education!”

She became Court Midwife to the royal family in Berlin and delivered their children.

A Google page explaining the Doodle says “Thank you Justine Siegemund for setting the foundation for modern childbirth education! Your legacy still inspires physicians to take a page out of your book — to make labor and delivery safer for all.”

As part of the Doodle, the altered Google logo depicts an unborn child being guided out of the womb by the hands of a midwife.

Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said “Google can hardly be said to be a pro-life company but it is encouraging that they choose to celebrate a woman who was deeply committed to helping women and their babies.”

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Help 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 begins this 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 begins this 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?

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Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help stop three major anti-life threats.