Dear
SPUC supporter,
Last week and the week before, the Lords debated the assisted suicide bill at Second Reading. It was hugely encouraging that peers spoke against the Bill by a ratio of more than two to one.
It was clear that all the letters and emails they have received has really been making a difference. Thank you so much to everyone who was been writing to members of the House of Lords on this issue. The assisted suicide bill will now move to the Committee stage, so do keep writing!
However, there is another area that it’s vital we be contacting Lords about.
Abortion up to birth
In the same week in June that MPs voted for assisted suicide, they also approved an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, that would legalise self-induced abortions up to birth.
New Clause 1, tabled by Tonia Antoniazzi MP, is now Clause 191 of the Crime and Policing Bill. The Bill is now in the House of Lords, where peers will have the opportunity to debate and amend it.
The Bill comes up for its Second Reading debate on 16 October. The best opportunities to make changes are likely to come at Committee stage. We don’t have an exact date for that yet, but we know that the abortion clause will be debated on the last day of Committee.
Write to Lords
Please write to members of the House of Lords and ask them to fight the extreme abortion up-to-birth amendment. This was not in any party’s manifesto. It was passed after just 43 minutes of backbench debate, with very little notice. The Lords can and must fight back.
As always, physical letters, written in your own words, are the most impactful. You can use our guide, How to Write to Lords on Pro-Life Issues, to help you.
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You can also use our briefing on this Bill, Decriminalisation: The Legal Consequences of Removing Women from Abortion Law.
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Alternatively, you can use our online tool. This tool brings up a suggested Peer for you to write to, and an editable template. The tool will email the message to you, either with instructions on posting it to the peer, or emailing it to them, depending on which option you choose.
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Please do all you can to oppose this awful amendment.
With best wishes,
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Alithea Williams
Public Policy Manager
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PS: Please forward me any replies you get!
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