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Hugo Hammond to become first ‘Love Island’ contestant with a disability

Hugo Hammond will become the first ever contestant with a disability to appear on the ITV reality program ‘Love Island’ when he enters the contest on 28 June. Under current UK law, abortions can be performed right up to birth for babies diagnosed as having the same disability as Hugo.

Hugo, a PE teacher from Hampshire, has previously played cricket for England’s national physical disability team.

The 24-year-old was born with the condition known as ‘clubfoot’, and said he had “lots of operations when I was a kid”. 

He explained: “You can only really tell when I walk barefoot. I’ve got a really short Achilles heel. I walk slightly on my tiptoes”.

“I’ve actually played cricket for England PD (Physical Disability). I’ve been to Bangladesh, Dubai, I’ve been everywhere to play cricket”.

Hugo has never let the condition hold him back and has enjoyed a successful sporting career.

Speaking of his job, he said: “I absolutely love my job. I love all my sports. It’s great to be able to pass on that enthusiasm to be physically active to the younger generation and hopefully, they feel the same about me teaching them”.

He said: “I’ve been single for a while now. With the current climate, it’s been really hard to get back into dating. I saw it as an opportunity to have an amazing fun summer and put myself back out there”.

Abortion legal up to birth for disabilities including club foot

According to the NHS, club foot (also called talipes) is a condition where one or both feet point(s) down and inwards with the sole of the foot facing backwards.

Currently, abortion is available up to birth in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland if the baby is diagnosed with disabilities such as Down’s syndrome, cleft lip, or club foot.

Official abortion statistics for England and Wales show that abortions are happening on the grounds that a baby has one of these conditions. Due to underreporting, these figures are likely to be significantly higher than what is being reported. 

Seventy-five babies with either a cleft lip or cleft palate as their principal condition were aborted between 2011 and 2018. Sadly, the figures are likely to be much higher; for example a 2013 review by Eurocat showed 157 babies were aborted for cleft lip and palate in England and Wales between 2006 and 2010 while the Department of Health and Social Care recorded only 14 such abortions.

While the Government is reluctant to release data on club foot terminations, data reported by Eurocat showed that 205 babies with club foot were aborted in England and Wales between 2006 and 2010.

There is no shortage of testimonials from individuals who have been diagnosed with cleft lip, cleft palate or club foot and were not held back, including Steven Gerrard, Joaquin Phoenix, Kristi Yamaguchi and Carmit Bachar.

Polling from Savanta ComRes shows that only one in three people think it is acceptable to ban abortion for gender or race but allow it for disability. The support for allowing disability-selective abortion for conditions such as club foot, cleft lip and cleft palate is likely even lower.

A spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson said: “That Hugo is happy and healthy with an illustrious sporting career behind him is a testament to how far we have come in our ability to help children with club foot. However, Hugo’s story reinforces the horror of abortion up to birth for disabilities in the UK. The current law essentially tells people with disabilities that they are valued less than people without disabilities”.

“There is simply no place for such abhorrent legal discrimination in 21st Century Britain. We hope the High Court will rule in favour of equality and justice, when it hears Heidi Crowter and Máire Lea-Wilson’s landmark case against the UK Government over the current discriminatory abortion law on 6 July”.

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Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help fight the next phase of our battles against major assisted suicide and abortion up to birth threats.

Dear reader,

We are facing two major threats in the Lords - an extreme assisted suicide Bill and an abortion up to birth amendment.

THE GOOD NEWS - OUR STRATEGY IS WORKING

At Second Reading of the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill in the House of Lords, a record number of Peers spoke, and of those who took a position, around two-thirds opposed the assisted suicide Bill. That is more than double the number who supported it.

Our side also secured a significant win, with the establishment of a dedicated Lords Select Committee to further scrutinise the Bill’s proposals – and Committee Stage has been delayed until it reports.

This momentum has been built by tens of thousands of people like you. Thanks to your hard work, Peers are receiving a very large number of emails and letters by post, making the case against the Bill. 

Thanks to your support, we have been able to mount a major campaign in Parliament, in the media and online – alongside your own efforts – to keep us on course for our goal: that this dangerous Bill never becomes law.

BUT MORE CHALLENGES LIE AHEAD

We cannot become complacent. Well-funded groups - Dignity in Dying, My Death My Decision and Humanists UK - have poured millions into pushing assisted suicide. They can see support is slipping and will fight hard to reverse that.

This is not the only fight we are facing in the House of Lords.

At the same time, the Antoniazzi abortion up to birth amendment, which passed in the House of Commons in June, is moving through the House of Lords as part of the Crime and Policing Bill.

Second Reading will take place in a matter of weeks. It will then go on to Committee and Report Stages, where we will be up against the UK’s largest abortion providers – BPAS and MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes) – who are expected to lobby for even more extreme changes to our abortion laws.

If the Antoniazzi amendment becomes law, it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason – including sex-selective purposes – at any point up to and during birth.

Thousands of vulnerable lives - at the beginning and the end of life - depend on what happens next. We must do everything in our power to stop these radical proposals.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Our campaign against the Leadbeater Bill in the House of Lords is working, but the work we have already done has significantly stretched our limited resources.

We are now stepping up our efforts against the assisted suicide Bill while launching a major push to stop the abortion up to birth amendment in the Lords. 

To fight effectively on both fronts, we aim to raise £183,750 by midnight this Sunday (5 October 2025).

Every donation, large or small, will help protect lives, and UK taxpayers can add 25p to every £1 through Gift Aid at no extra cost.

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

URGENT
APPEAL
to protect vulnerable lives

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help fight the next phase of our battles against major assisted suicide and abortion up to birth threats.