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Latvia rejects euthanasia

The Latvian Parliament has rejected a public petition that called for the legalisation of euthanasia.

On 25 March, after a citizens initiative collected 10,000 signatures, the Saeima (Latvian Parliament) voted 49 to 38 against legalising euthanasia in Latvia.

Saeima Deputy Dr Vitālijs Orlovs said during the debate: “I understand what the initiative is about, but I was taught to fight for patients’ lives to the end. I cannot imagine injecting a person with some substance to help them die — not for any amount of money”.

According to the Latvian public broadcaster LSM.LV, representatives saw this debate as an opportunity to discuss improving end of life care more generally for Latvians.

Opposition MP Viktors Valainis (Union of Greens and Farmers) said euthanasia is “absolutely unacceptable” because it ignores a number of problems in palliative care. At the same time, Valainis stated that he was prepared to do everything necessary to improve the medical sector in the country.

Similarly, Saeima deputy Anda Čakša said that the topic of euthanasia should not be discussed until the issue of palliative care is resolved in the country.

The Netherlands: “a model” for euthanasia

The author of the petition, Pēteris Buks, drew attention to the Netherlands as a model for what euthanasia in Latvia could look like.

The Netherlands first introduced euthanasia in 2002 and since then has significantly expanded the scope of the law. Last year, Deputy Prime Minister Hugo de Jonge outlined his plans to introduce euthanasia for children age one to twelve.

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: “The last two decades have seen an enormous push by the pro-euthanasia and pro-assisted suicide lobby across Europe. It has been successful in Belgium and the Netherlands, and has more recently been joined by Spain and Luxembourg. However, strong opposition to this dangerous legislation remains. In the UK, Parliament has consistently rejected attempts to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide. Most recently in 2015 with the defeat of the Marris-Falconer Bill, which was defeated 330-118. Similarly, politicians in France last week rejected legislation to introduce euthanasia into the country”.

“As this case in Latvia illustrates, part of the push for euthanasia is driven by real or perceived inadequacies in end of life care, particularly the provision of palliative care. Effective and widespread palliative care can go a long way towards dissuading people from ending their lives by euthanasia or assisted suicide”.

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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.