We produce briefings for MPs and peers, to help resources inform and shape debates and questions you need in the House of Commons and the House of Lords on pro-life issues. We also work with politicians in Holyrood, Stormont and the Welsh Parliament.
In addition, we submit consultation responses to a number of inquiries including from select committees, public bill committees and politicians proposing bills.
What You’ll Find Here
On this page we provide:
Downloadable links to our pro-life briefings for MPs and peers, designed to inform debates in the House of Commons and House of Lords.
Access to consultation responses submitted to select committees, public bill committees, and politicians.
Resources for politicians in Westminster, Holyrood, Stormont, and the Welsh Parliament on pro-life issues.
November 2024
Terminally ill adults (End of Life) Bill
Few issues are more contentious than assisted suicide or are the subject of such passionate debate in Parliament. So far, Parliament has not been persuaded to introduce the concept into UK law. When last voted on by MPs in 2015, the proposal was rejected by 330 votes to 118.
This briefing examines the specific features and safeguards of the Bill, drawing on the experience of other jurisdictions to assess the likely impact of legislation. It does not examine all the arguments for and against assisted suicide.
August 2024
Can safeguards make assisted dying safe?
The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill was introduced by Liam McArthur, (Lib Dem MSP for the Orkney Islands) and is the third attempt to change the law in Scotland since 2010.
This briefing sets out the features of the Bill, the hazards it contains and the potential threats that it poses for the sick and the vulnerable.
July 2024
Abortion – A Guide for Parliamentarians
For many, abortion law in the UK is a settled issue. However, practise has changed significantly, with medical abortions at home now being the most common method. The last few years have also seen changes to abortion law in Northern Ireland, and in the right to protest abortion outside clinics. Events in other countries have also brought the issue to the fore.
April 2024
Should Assisted Suicide Be Legalised?
Few issues are more contentious than assisted suicide but no comparable issue has had more parliamentary time devoted to it. Legislation for its introduction has been tabled eight times in the last 10 years and it has been debated twice in Westminster Hall – on 4 July 2022 and on 29 April 2024. It is almost certain that the legalisation
of assisted suicide will be debated in the next parliament.
This briefing reflects the experience of countries where assisted suicide is lawful; the detrimental effect on the provision of palliative care, the increasing pressure on the economically marginalised to end their lives, the rise in suicide in the general population and other unforeseen consequences.
May 2024
Abortion: Punitive Measures
A number of amendments related to abortion have been tabled at the Report Stage of the Criminal Justice Bill. Dame Diana Johnson’s NC1, tabled in February, would decriminalise abortion by removing women from the criminal law related to abortion. Stella Creasy has now tabled a new amendment, NC40, which uses different means to decriminalise abortion.
This amendment would fully decriminalise abortion up to 24 weeks, and de facto up to the point of birth. Unusually, it would remove doctors from the criminal law on abortion, not just women. Concerns have also been raised about including section 60 of OAPA, which is used to charge infanticide.
February 2024
Should women be removed from the criminal law related to abortion?
On Tuesday 28 November 2023, Labour MPs Dame Diana Johnson and Stella Creasy tabled amendments NC1 and NC2 respectively to the Government’s Criminal Justice Bill. These amendments, which would both decriminalise abortion, were debated at Committee stage on Thursday 25 January 2024 and withdrawn. Now, Dame Diana has tabled a slightly amended version of her new clause (also NC1).
This briefing scrutinises the amendment, examines the reasons women are being prosecuted for illegal abortion, and considers if removing abortion from the criminal law is the correct solution.
December 2023
Call for Evidence on the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill
Read SPUC’s response to the Scottish Parliament’s consultation on the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill that seeks to introduce buffer zones around the country’s abortion clinics.
October 2023
Abortion and Coercion
We often associate abortion with words like “choice” and “autonomy”. In reality, many abortions take place because a woman feels she has no choice – either because of her circumstances, or because she has been pressured by her partner, family, or even medical professionals.
A recent BBC poll found that 15% of British women had been coerced into having an abortion that they did not want. This data is shocking – and shows that coercion in abortion decisions is an urgent and immediate threat to women’s health and wellbeing and is an often-unrecognised form of domestic abuse.
June 2023
Should schools in Northern Ireland have to teach pupils that they have a right to abortion?
The Relationships and Sexuality Education (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 will force all schools – regardless of their ethos, the religious or moral views of the headteacher and/or the board of governors – to teach children that they have a right to abortion and how to obtain one without the knowledge of their parents. It will also prohibit the presentation of any opinion opposed to abortion.
This briefing explains how these Regulations are fundamentally discriminatory.
June 2023
Should Abortion Be Decriminalised?
On 12th June 2023, the Crown Court at Stoke on Trent sentenced Carla Foster, a 44 year old mother of three, to 28 months imprisonment for the “offence of administering poison with intent to procure a miscarriage.”
This briefing details the reasons why this case should not be seen as justification Abortion providers and MPs are already using this sad case to call for the complete decriminalisation of abortion.
This briefing details the reasons why this case should not be seen as justification for this.
May 2023
Complicit: Is UK money contributing to coerced abortion in China?
This shocking report suggests that the UK is still contributing to schemes that fund China’s birth control policies – despite the Government pledging on different occasions to reduce dramatically, or better still end, aid to China.
November 2022
Should access to abortion be a human right?
In June 2022, the Government rejected calls to include access to abortion in the Bill of Rights. Justice Secretary Dominic Raab believed it was unnecessary and warned against creating a situation where abortion law was decided through litigation rather than by Parliament.E-petition 619334 calls on the Government to include abortion rights in the Bill of Rights, and will be debated on Monday 28 November.
This briefing examines points raised in the petition, as well as international law around abortion, and the implications of making abortion a right.
Briefing Series for MSPs on Assisted Suicide
In September 2022, Liam McArthur MSP lodged his Assisted Dying (Scotland) Bill. This series of briefings examine the problems with assisted suicide.
August 2022
Submission to the Consultation on the proposed Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill
SPUC’s submission to the consultation by Gillian MacKay MSP on the proposed Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill.
December 2021
Submission to the Consultation on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill
SPUC’s submission to the consultation by Liam McArthur MSP on the proposed Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.
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Featured Campaign
Lives Worth Living
Join Campaign: Lives Worth LivingSPUC upholds the right to life from conception until natural death, and has played a part in resisting many attempts both in Parliament and in the courts to change the law on assisted suicide.
Latest Press Releases
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Snap General Election called for 4th July
We just wanted to send you a quick message responding to the breaking news that the Prime Minister has just called a snap General Election for 4 July. Parliament will be prorogued on Friday this week, meaning dozens of Bills will proceed no further. Dissolution will take place on Thursday…
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Parental opt-out consultation a “slap in the face” to parents in Northern Ireland
BELFAST, 4 September 2023: The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), the UK’s oldest grassroots pro-life organisation is calling on concerned parents, teachers and school governors across Northern Ireland to use the public consultation on relationships and sex-education (RSE) l
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Court of Appeal rejects calls to defend Northern Ireland’s devolution settlement from Westminster’s abortion power grab – says
Pro-life campaigners bringing a legal challenge against the 2021 Northern Ireland Abortion Regulations are warning that the Court of Appeal’s dismissal of their case has dealt another body blow to Northern Ireland’s devolution settlement by handing unlimited power to the Secretary of Sta
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House of Commons approves buffer zones in
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has reacted with disappointment after MPs voted to ban even silent prayer around abortion clinics. MPs were voting on an amendment to a clause introducing buffer zones around abortion clinics, which had been added into the Public Order Bill a
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Abortion buffer zones an “outrageous assault on civil liberties” says SPUC as controversial amendment clears the Lords
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children has slammed a vote to impose buffer zones around abortion clinics, calling it an “outrageous assault on civil liberties”.
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UK supreme court uphold law banning pro-life vigils
LONDON 7 December 2022 — The UK Supreme Court says banning peaceful pro-life vigils and threatening demonstrators with fines and imprisonment is not a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
All Press Releases