We wanted to let you know about the massive backlash that has happened since extreme abortion up to birth proposals were published in Scotland last Friday, and to give you an update on the latest developments on the assisted suicide bills in Scotland and Westminster.
A number of you have been in touch asking if we could send you the photos from the March for Life that took place earlier in the autumn.
Our Director of Creative and Digital, Sam Kemp, has done a lot of work to give the photos a distinctive look to make sure they stand out on social media.
You can view the photos on Facebook here – or if you are not on Facebook, you can view them here – this includes photos from the March and the photo booth at our stall earlier in the day.
Thank you to everyone who made it along – it was an amazing day with thousands of people taking to the streets of London to stand up for the unborn and women facing unplanned pregnancies.
MASSIVE BACKLASH AGAINST SEX-SELECTIVE ABORTION AND ABORTION UP TO BIRTH PROPOSALS
Last Friday, we launched our No To Abortion Up To Birth Scotland campaign to stop the extreme proposals attempting to scrap the current 24-week time limit for abortion – and make abortion available on social grounds, including sex-selective reasons, right up to birth in Scotland.
Thank you to everyone who has contacted their local MSPs. MSPs have had their inboxes flooded with emails from constituents horrified by these proposals, who are calling on them to oppose them.
In fact, this has been the largest number of emails that MSPs have ever received in Scotland on the abortion issue.
If you have not yet emailed your local MSPs, please contact them using our easy-to-use tool here.
Alongside this major grassroots backlash, there has been a very big backlash online and in the media against the proposed change in the law, with many people particularly horrified by the recommendation that sex-selective abortion be legalised in Scotland.
It has been a busy week for our Media Team as both Scottish and national newspapers, as well as broadcast media, have been eager to cover this story as it has developed. A number of prominent commentators have also published op-eds and taken to the social media platform X to condemn the extreme proposals.
We have much more work to do, but for now, we are so grateful to all of you who have taken action by contacting your MSPs, encouraging friends and family to take action, or helping by sharing our press releases and articles online to further spread the word.
ASSISTED SUICIDE UPDATE
The first day of Committee Stage for the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill took place last Friday.
Thank you to everyone who has written to Peers asking them to oppose the Bill.
There was a significant turnout of Peers who spoke against the Bill, with an analysis of the speeches on the day by our Public Affairs team showing that 72% spoke in opposition and 28% spoke in favour of the Bill.
Similarly, the next day of Stage 2 of the Scottish assisted suicide Bill took place at Holyrood on Tuesday and went well.
We have posted the key videos from speeches at both Westminster and Holyrood on our X account.
Our Digital Team has put together this highlights reel from the House of Lords select committee for the assisted suicide Bill after the Lords sponsor of the Bill, Lord Falconer, extraordinarily claimed, “I thought broadly, the select committee didn’t suggest that the Bill was insufficiently safeguarded”.
It shows that almost every professional body that gave evidence, and numerous groups representing vulnerable people at the recent House of Lords select committee, expressed profound concerns with major aspects of the Bill.
Watch the highlights reel and deciding for yourself about whether Lord Falconer is misleading Peers about the evidence the select committee heard!
NEXT STEPS
At Westminster, Committee Stage in the House of Lords continues tomorrow and will be live on Parliament TV from around 10am here. Our team will be sharing key video clips and live updates throughout the day on our X account.
In Scotland, Stage 2 of the Scottish assisted suicide Bill will continue on Tuesday (25 November) next week. You will be able to follow along on Scottish Parliament TV from 9am on Tuesday here – and our team will also share key video clips and live commentary throughout the day on our X account.
Thank you so much for all you have done over the past week.