Urgent appeal to build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.
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Large numbers protest forced abortion decision outside Parliament

On Tuesday, Stand With Her held a demonstration outside Parliament in response to a ruling made on Friday 21st June, where Justice Nathalie Lieven ordered a woman with a learning disability who was 22 weeks pregnant to have an abortion against her will.

The demonstration was intended to show solidarity with the unnamed woman, her baby, her own mother and any other women who have been forced to have an abortion.

It is unlikely that this is a one-off case. Right To Life UK will be calling on the Department of Health to urgently reveal how many women have been forced by a hospital to have an abortion against their will in the UK, and make clear how they will ensure no women and family will ever have to go through this again.

After an appeal was brought forward on Monday 24th June, the Justice Lieven’s forced abortion decision was overturned. Instead, three Court of Appeal judges ruled that doctors must not perform an abortion on the woman with a learning disability.

While campaigners were pleased with this outcome for the mother, her baby and their extended family, they questioned how this ruling could ever have happened in the first place.

Speaking at the event, Emmi Egbonou, said: 

“What is shocking is that this was ever allowed to happen in the first place. The fact that the state can force a late-term abortion on a woman who did not want one is not the kind of state we want to live in. The fact that a judge could make a ruling to force an abortion on a vulnerable woman without her consent is a betrayal of the justice system and betrayal of the most vulnerable in our society. 

A forced late-term abortion would have been an irreversible trauma on the mother and would have ended the life of the baby that had been growing inside her womb for almost six months and, at 22 weeks, could survived outside the womb. 

We are here today to we stand with this woman. We stand with her baby. We stand with her family. We stand with every woman in the UK who has been forced by a hospital to abort their baby.

The Government must ensure no women and family will ever have to go through this again. We are here today to send a clear message to the Government. This must never happen again.”

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Clare McCarthy, said: 

“This is a very welcome decision that will save the life of the unborn child and the mother from a forced late-term abortion and much undue distress. However, the horrific original ruling should never have happened.

“Unfortunately, we fear that this is not a one-off case. We are calling on the Department of Health to urgently reveal how many women have been forced by a hospital to have an abortion against their will in the UK and make it clear how they will ensure it will not happen again.”

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.