Only hours left of the appeal to help build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.
DONATE NOW
Select Page

Nurse of the Year award given for opening Belfast abortion clinic

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has given its top award to a nurse who opened a new abortion clinic in Belfast.

Sexual health nurse Nicola Bailey was named RCN Nurse of the Year 2021 at the RCN Nursing Awards ceremony, held earlier this year, for “revolutionising” women’s healthcare by opening the new Rose Clinic in Belfast.

“This is amazing for me, but also amazing for women’s sexual and reproductive healthcare in Northern Ireland”, said Ms Bailey, who works for Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

After congratulating Ms Bailey, sexual health clinical lead Siobhan Kirk who had nominated her for the award said: “These services have revolutionised women’s healthcare in Northern Ireland and this award recognises Ms Bailey’s role in that.

At the awards, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, also congratulated Ms Bailey. Commenting on the role of nurses she said: “You advocate for those who cannot find their voice, for whatever reason. You build a protective barrier around those often at their most vulnerable”.

Earlier this year, Britain’s largest private abortion provider, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), was awarded the ‘Women’s Health’ award for their role in the promotion and administration of their ‘DIY’ home abortion scheme at the British Medical Journal annual awards ceremony.

Abortion in Northern Ireland

1,556 abortions occurred in Northern Ireland between March 2020 and July 2021 and this number is likely to increase if abortion is fully commissioned in Northern Ireland.

Currently, abortion is not fully commissioned across Northern Ireland. This means that in some areas it might not be available at all. The Government in Westminster has decided to ignore the fact that abortion is a devolved issue in Northern Ireland, and force the region to make abortion fully available by 2022.

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: “The RCN and BMJ are revealing the worrying direction this country’s medical unions are headed in. That abortion remains legal in this country is tragic, but the fact that medical bodies are now championing this practice – the ending of human lives – instead of practices geared towards the saving or aiding of human life is truly horrific”.

Urgent appeal 
to save liveS

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Only hours left of the appeal to 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.

Only hours left of the appeal to build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.