News,

29 January 2013

Dear supporter,

Please see below:

1. Same-sex marriage bill - urgent action needed
2. SPUC International Pro-Life Youth Conference, 22-24 March

1. Same-sex marriage bill - urgent action needed
   
The government's bill to legalise so-called “same-sex marriage” was launched on 24 January. This will result in a legal redefinition of marriage, setting English law at odds with the timeless and universal social and religious conception of marriage. The critical Second Reading will be on Tuesday 5 February. For the sake of tomorrow’s children, we must persuade as many MPs as possible to vote against it.

• Please write, phone or email your MP and ask him/her to oppose the marriage bill at its Second Reading.
• Ask your friends and relatives and pro-life contacts to do the same.

Action timeline:

1. Wed 30 Jan to Fri 1 Feb: Write to your MP, asking him/her to oppose the government’s marriage bill (It will be too late to post letters or postcards to MPs after Friday 1st, so we must ask people to telephone or send an email to their MP at this stage.)
2. Sat 2 Feb to Sun 3 Feb: Email your MP, and ask others – family, fellow church-members etc – to email or phone their MP to oppose the bill
3. Mon 4 Feb: Telephone or email MPs
4. Tue 5 Feb: Telephone or email MPs. Second Reading debate and votes (around 7pm)
5. Wed 6 Feb & after: Unless the bill is defeated in the Second Reading vote, we must continue to urge MPs to oppose it at later stages.

You can read our briefing notes for lobbying and writing to your MP, but at this point the key thing is for as many people as possible simply to ask their MP to vote against the bill next Tuesday (5 Feb.)

Last week the Catholic Bishops in England and Wales launched an excellent postcard campaign providing postcards for people to send to MPs calling on them to “Speak Out for Marriage,” and SPUC has encouraged people to support this initiative. However, the Second Reading date was subsequently announced at very short notice, so we must now asking people to telephone or email MPs to make sure they get the message before 5 February. The postcard campaign can still be helpful, but phoning or emailing MPs is most urgent. More information about the Bishops’ postcard campaign can be found on the Bishops’ website: http://www.catholicchurch.org.uk/Home/Featured/Speak-Out-For-Marriage

For further information about the bill, please call SPUC 020 7091 7091, or email political@spuc.org.uk

2. SPUC International Pro-Life Youth Conference, 22-24 March

Please encourage young people (16+) to come to SPUC's 6th International Pro-Life Youth Conference, the only pro-life conference of its kind in the UK. This conference has proven a huge success every year and has made an important contribution to renewed pro-life efforts by young people around the country. This weekend conference has been a place where the seed for new pro-life groups has been sown and new friendships forged. SPUC has ensured an exciting line-up of expert speakers in their respective fields, along with fun evening entertainment. This is an event not to be missed!

Do you know young people, aged 16 years and above, who would like to attend this conference?
 
It will take place at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire. The cost for the weekend, which includes all conference fees, meals and accommodation, is £100.

Speakers will include:

• Professor Patrick Pullicino, speaking on the Liverpool Care Pathway
• Dr Lisa Nolland, who will talk about sex education
• Bioethicist Dr Helen Watt, speaking about pregnancy
• John Smeaton, CEO of SPUC, addressing pro-life campaigning
• Barrister James Bogle, speaking on euthanasia
• Ira Winter, discussing natural family planning
• SPUC researcher Fiorella Nash will talk about maternal mortality
• Media expert Anthony Ozimic, who will speak on political campaigning
• SPUC education officer Katherine Hampton explains the SPUC schools’ talk

For further information and to make a booking, please see the SPUC website: www.spuc.org.uk   For conference enquiries, please e-mail conference@spuc.org.uk

To subscribe to SPUC's email information services, please visit www.spuc.org.uk/em-signup. The reliability of the news herein is dependent on that of the cited sources, which are paraphrased rather than quoted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the society. © Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, 2018