Urgent appeal to build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.
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Italian actress reveals she was pressured to choose abortion by her film agent but said “absolutely not!”

Italian actress Ornella Muti revealed in a recent interview that she was pressured by her agent to have an abortion when she was pregnant at 18. 

Muti, also known as Francesca Romana Rivelli, spoke to Italian magazine Corriere della Sera about her long acting career, which began at 14. 

Initially, Ms Muti spoke about being a single mother at 18. “It wasn’t that easy”, she said. 

“It could be done without problems abroad”

When she found out she was pregnant, she was in the midst of filming. Muti revealed that both her mother and her film agent suggested abortion to her. Although abortion was illegal in Italy at the time, the mother of the Italian actress told her that “it could be done without problems abroad”. 

Abortion became legal in Italy in 1978, four years after the birth of Naike, Ornella Muti’s firstborn child. 

“Absolutely not!”

Ms Muti was adamant that she would not have an abortion just so that she could make a film. In response to pressure from her agent and mother, she affirmed “absolutely not!”. 

Sadly, many women in the sport and entertainment industry have spoken about intense pressure to choose abortion. Female athletes have spoken up about being pressured into abortion and Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor revealed she was encouraged to have an abortion by a record producer and doctor. She recalls the doctor saying “Your record company has spent £100,000 recording your album. You owe it to them not to have this baby”.

Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said “Ornella Muti showed great bravery to withstand the pressure of those around her to choose abortion. Whilst the story ended well for Ms Muti and her daughter, all too often that is not the case”. 

“UK polling has also shown that a shocking 7% of British women have been pressured into an abortion by their husband or partner. Such statistics contradict the idea that abortion is always the ‘choice’ it is claimed to be”. 

“Women face all sorts of pressures to have an abortion. There may be professional or family pressure, perhaps medical and financial pressure. Whatever it may be, it is clear that abortion is not simply a matter of choice despite the slogans of the pro-choice movement. As a society, we need to support women so that they feel empowered to welcome new life”.

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.