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54-713: The Pro-Life Alliance was founded by two anti-abortion activists, Josephine Quintavalle and her son Bruno Quintavalle . They contested the 1997 general election , bringing about litigation against the BBC over the latter's refusal to screen the PLA's party political broadcast . The party contested 56 of the 659 constituencies and attracted a total of 19,332 votes. It gained over 1% of the vote in only five constituencies in England and Wales, although did slightly better in Scotland, where it averaged 1.5% of

108-531: A "silent holocaust", and sees abortion laws as "the work of Satan." The Channel 4 Dispatches documentary "In God's Name", which first aired on 19 May 2008, featured Williams and documented her lobbying the British Government on abortion, gay rights and the enforcement of laws relating to blasphemy . The programme included footage of Williams' meetings with Conservative politicians Norman Tebbit and Nadine Dorries , both of whom have worked with

162-544: A "startling proposition" by Justice Hayden. The CLC called the judges' comments "unfair." Mary Holmes, former solicitor for Evans' parents, accused the CLC of exploiting the case for their own benefit. Three court-of-appeal judges said that a letter from Stroilov to the parents of Alfie Evans was "misleading to the extent of giving the father false advice". The letter advised Evans' father that it would be lawful to remove Alfie from Alder Hey Hospital. The court heard that this led to

216-613: A Christian couple, applied to the Derby City Council to become foster parents . They withdrew their application after a social worker expressed concern when they said they could not tell a child that a homosexual lifestyle was acceptable. The two parties agreed to take the case to the High Court for clarification of the law. The court decided in favour of the city council, saying that laws protecting people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation "should take precedence" over

270-482: A close working relationship with British Conservative politician Nadine Dorries. She was a team member of Dorries' campaign to reduce the upper limit on abortion to 20 weeks (a campaign partly funded by Christian Concern), and wrote Dorries' anti-abortion amendments. In the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, "In God's Name", Dorries was asked how closely she worked with Williams and replied, "Closely? We've been stuck to

324-686: A company founded in December 2007, has acted in a number of high-profile cases on behalf of evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom . Its sister organisation is Christian Concern . Observers believe that the centre has adopted tactics from wealthy evangelical groups in the US, notably the Alliance Defense Fund , and raise questions about its funding. It opposes homosexuality, same-sex marriage, pre-marital sex, and pornography. Since its inception,

378-641: A compromise of wearing her cross pinned inside a lapel or pocket. An employment tribunal ruled that they acted reasonably in April 2010, rejecting Chaplin's case. Chaplin tried unsuccessfully to obtain a ruling against the UK government at the European Court of Human Rights. Duke Amachree, a homelessness officer, was fired by the Wandsworth Council for subjecting a client to a "30-minute barrage" of evangelism when he

432-511: A confrontation at the hospital in which Alfie was involved, and police were called. An appellate judge said that the letter was "disseminated on social media (presumably with the knowledge of Mr Stroilov)". Felix Ngole, a student social-care worker, was removed from a course at the University of Sheffield in 2016 after engaging in a Facebook debate where he said that homosexuality was a sin. His comments were deemed homophobic. The High Court upheld

486-453: A dress and was "confused". The Rowes received £22,000 for legal costs from the UK's Department for Education . Magistrate Richard Page was fired for objecting to an adoption application by a same-sex couple, and was also suspended from his role at the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust. After an unsuccessful Court of Appeal challenge against his dismissal which was supported by

540-559: A medical advisory committee that reported in favour of passing the bill. Several members of the government were sympathetic legalisation, including Roy Jenkins (Home Secretary), Kenneth Robinson (Minister of Health), Richard Crossman (Leader of the House), and John Silkin (Government Chief Whip). After a further heated political and moral debate, the House of Commons passed it by a vote of 167 to 83 on 13 July 1967. The House of Lords granted it

594-448: A pregnancy where the pregnancy had not exceeded 12 weeks in length, there was a risk to physical or mental health within 24 weeks of pregnancy, or, at any time during pregnancy, where the pregnant woman's life was at immediate risk, there was a risk to the pregnant mother's physical or mental health, or a severe or fatal fetal abnormality had been detected. In the latter two cases, the good faith opinion of two registered medical professionals

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648-613: A reporter for The Daily Telegraph called Worcester College, Oxford 's cancellation of the programme an example of cancel culture . In 2011, The Guardian raised questions over how the CLC is funded and noted structural similarities to the Alliance Defense Fund , an American conservative-Christian legal-advocacy group. According to Keith Porteous Wood of the National Secular Society , "[the CLC] don't seem so keen to support religious liberty for Muslims or atheists". The centre

702-702: A restricted basis. There was widespread action across the country to oppose any attempts to restrict abortion access via the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill (now Act) in Parliament ( Report Stage and Third Reading 22 October 2008 ). MPs voted to retain the current legal limit of 24 weeks. Amendments proposing reductions to 22 weeks and 20 weeks were defeated by 304 to 233 votes and 332 to 190 votes respectively. A number of abortion rights amendments were proposed by Diane Abbott MP, Katy Clark MP and John McDonnell MP - including NC30 Amendment of

756-682: A school environment. The Christian Legal Centre, Christian Concern and the Alliance Defending Freedom launched the Wilberforce Academy, a Christian residential programme, in 2010. The one-week conference trains students and young professionals to apply Christianity to their vocations. Some of its attendees go on to work for the Christian Legal Centre and Christian Concern. The programme has often been held at Oxbridge colleges, prompting complaints from students. In 2022,

810-610: A second reading by a vote of 127 to 21 on 19 July, and approved it with minor changes on 23 October. On 25 October, the Commons voted 188—94 to agree with the amendments made by the Lords. The bill was enacted two days later, and came into force on 27 April 1968. Since 1967, members of Parliament have introduced a number of private member's bills to change the abortion law. Five resulted in substantive debate (1975, 1976, 1979, 1988, and 1990 ), but all failed. The Lane Committee investigated

864-564: Is a false religion" and switched off her microphone. Stroilov, a consultant for the CLC, says that he is an exiled Russian dissident who smuggled top-secret Kremlin files into Britain after stealing them from the Gorbachev Foundation 's archives. During his work on the Alfie Evans case, a judge described his behaviour as “profoundly depressing, to say the least". Stroilov was an aide for former UKIP leader Gerard Batten when Batten

918-528: Is required. The bill was introduced by Liberal MP David Steel as a Private Member's Bill after he did well in the ballot for such bills in 1966, coming third. There had been six earlier attempts to change the law on abortion, starting with an earlier Private Member's Bill from the Labour MP Joseph Reeves in 1952. Labour peer Lewis Silkin had introduced legislation in 1965, but withdrew this once Steel had successfully introduced his motion to

972-483: The 2001 general election . Its vote was lower than in 1997; it averaged 255 votes per seat, and 30 of its candidates polled less than 1%. 26 of its candidates came last in their respective constituencies. In entering the 2004 European Parliament election , it had difficulty attracting candidates willing to stand, the result of which was that seven of the 22 standing for election in England contested more than one electoral region. The ProLife Alliance gained 20,393 votes in

1026-542: The 2004 European Parliament election , equating to 0.1% of votes cast. A few months later, in December 2004, the PLA disbanded as a political party and did not contest any seats in the 2005 general election . Much of the party's support subsequently went to a minor Christian democratic party, the Christian Peoples Alliance (CPA), with many of the CPA's electoral candidates having been former PLA candidates. In 2003,

1080-763: The Department of Health significantly reduced the statistical information it provided about abortions for suspected foetal abnormalities. The ProLife Alliance challenged this under the Freedom of Information Act , and this challenge was supported by the Information Commissioner . An appeal by the Department of Health to the Information Tribunal failed. The Tribunal rejected the Department's view that personal information would be unreasonably endangered, and commented on

1134-657: The Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn 's leadership made a commitment to extend the Abortion Act 1967 to Northern Ireland . In June 2017, the UK Government revealed plans to provide some type of free abortion services in England for women from Northern Ireland in an attempt to head off a Conservative rebellion in a vote on the Queen's speech. The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019, enacted on 24 July 2019, extended

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1188-549: The "children of the devil") to "repent" and advocated the expulsion of gay priests from the Church of England . Williams has publicly opposed the Church of England's decision to support civil partnerships . She reportedly called the Human Fertilisation Bill "the work of the devil" and homosexuality sinful , said that abortion should be illegal , and the world is around 4,000 years old. Williams has called abortion

1242-622: The "relative unpopularity of abortion as an election issue" in the United Kingdom. In his view, its "failure" at the ballot box demonstrated "a failure to win the argument", with the majority of the British population believing that abortion should remain legal. A 2005 poll found that over 70% of Britons believed that abortion should be always or mostly legal while less than a quarter thought that it should be always or mostly illegal. Bruno Quintavalle The Christian Legal Centre ( CLC ),

1296-577: The 1997 general election. In total, it attracted 19,332 votes, averaging of 345 votes per constituency. In England and Wales, the PLA gained over 1% of the vote in only five constituencies: Billericay, Leyton and Wanstead, Solihull, Manchester Withington, and Doncaster Central. In Scotland, it contested nine seats, all of them in the Greater Glasgow area. There, it averaged 1.5% of the vote and gained over 2% in three seats. That it did better in this part of Scotland rather than in England or Wales might reflect

1350-636: The 1997 general election. This was despite the fact that the Scottish Parliament election utilised a form of proportional representation which benefited minor parties, a contrast to the general election's use of first-past-the-post voting . The sociologist Steve Bruce suggested that the decline in the Scottish vote may have been because voters were "too excited" by the restoration of their parliament after 292 years to "be interested in apparently fringe issues" such as abortion. The PLA fielded 37 candidates at

1404-489: The 28th week if two registered medical practitioners believed in good faith that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, or harm her physical or mental health, or that of any of her family members. It did not extend to Northern Ireland until the implementation of the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 . Under this legislation, a registered medical professional could terminate

1458-476: The Abortion Act 1967: Application to Northern Ireland. However, it was reported that the Labour Government at the time asked MPs not to table these amendments (and at least until Third Reading ) and then allegedly used parliamentary mechanisms in order to prevent a vote. Harriet Harman , in particular, was reported to have blocked the series of votes to liberalise Britain's abortion laws. In May 2017,

1512-603: The Alfie Evans and Archie Battersbee cases, campaigned to repeal the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act . Abortion Act 1967 The Abortion Act 1967 (c. 87) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that legalised abortion in Great Britain on certain grounds by registered practitioners, and regulated the tax-paid provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service (NHS). The Act made it lawful to have an abortion up to

1566-592: The CLC has involved itself in a number of cases in the UK. In 2008 the CLC represented Emily Mapfuwa, a Christian who began a prosecution of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead for exhibiting a statue by Terence Koh of Jesus with an erection . In a BBC Essex radio interview, Michael Phillips (a CLC solicitor who is also a member of the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship ) said that Mapfuwa had never visited

1620-463: The CLC, Page was told by Lord Justice Underhill that he had shown himself "incapable of honouring his undertaking" as an unbiased magistrate. The CLC supported nurse Mary Onuoha, who was victimised for wearing a small cross on duty. She refused to remove the cross, citing the widespread wearing of jewellery and other religious apparel by other staff members. The Employment Tribunal ruled that she had been discriminated against and harassed, saying: "There

1674-464: The CLC, claiming harassment due to his religious beliefs. He lost his case. Gary McFarlane, a counselor for Relate (a relationship support charity), was fired after raising a conscientious objection to assisting same-sex couples with sexual issues. Relate admitted wrongful dismissal , conceding that McFarlane should have been given notice instead of being summarily dismissed for "gross misconduct". Complaints of unfair dismissal and discrimination on

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1728-616: The Commons, with Steel's bill being based on Silkin's text. There had been a long-running campaign supporting the legalisation of abortion in the UK, led by the Abortion Law Reform Association , who had lobbied Steel to use his Private Member's Bill slot on the topic. The proposal was backed by the Labour government, who appointed the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists , Sir John Peel , to chair

1782-578: The Department's duty to ensure compliance with the Abortion Act and its failure to scrutinise reporting forms "either clinically or substantively". The Department first planned to appeal to the High Court, but subsequently conceded and made the requested information available in July 2011. The sociologist Steve Bruce was of the view that the Pro-Life Alliance's inability to achieve political success reflected

1836-479: The LCF to influence policy on matters where they had a common agenda. When director David Modell asked Williams if she believes Islam is the "work of the devil", Williams replied: "I believe that Islam is a false religion, yes." In the documentary, Williams addresses the LCF's track record of losing cases by saying "it's vital that these issues are aired and won in the court room." David Modell concluded that "perhaps one of

1890-404: The application was without merit and ordered the CLC to pay costs which amounted to about £20,000. Graham Cogman, a police constable from Norfolk , was fired for sending emails to colleagues in which he quoted biblical passages condemning homosexuality and forwarded information about a group which offered to "cure" homosexuals . Cogman launched a complaint at an employment tribunal, supported by

1944-547: The book "an elitist rant". Evangelical activist and barrister Andrea Minichiello Williams is chief executive of the CLC and Christian Concern. She began public-policy work with the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship (LCF) during the 1990s, opposing the liberalisation of laws governing civil partnerships and the status of embryos. A member of the General Synod of the Church of England , Williams called on gay Christians (whom she called

1998-670: The exhibition; she lives over 250 miles (400 km) away, in Brentwood, Essex . The case was halted by the Crown Prosecution Service . The CLC and Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE) were refused permission to apply for a judicial review to overturn the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority 's decision to allow laboratory testing of human–animal hybrid embryos. At the High Court in London, Justice Linda Dobbs ruled that

2052-479: The greater proportion of Roman Catholics living in the Greater Glasgow area. The refusal of the BBC to show its television party political broadcast led to litigation ( R (ProLife Alliance) v BBC ), in which it was ultimately unsuccessful. The PLA contested the 1999 Scottish Parliamentary elections —the very first since the re-establishment of the Scottish Parliament —but its vote was less than that of

2106-724: The grounds of religion were dismissed. An appeal of the ruling was dismissed by the High Court in April 2010, and an application to the European Court of Human Rights was unsuccessful. Shirley Chaplin, a nurse supported by the CLC, made an unsuccessful bid to sue the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust for discrimination because it had moved her to a desk job after she refused to remove a cross necklace when asked to do so on health and safety grounds; hospital dress code prohibits front-line staff from wearing any type of necklace, in case patients try to grab it. The hospital had offered Chaplin

2160-649: The hip. Very closely." About her campaign, Dorries added: What goes on in here would have no structure whatsover, no sense of achievement if it wasn't for people like Andrea on the outside. You know, the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship, the Medical Christian Fellowship [ sic ] on this particular issue are absolutely vital because they give us the information. In the documentary, Dorries said that she had not discussed Williams' views on Islam . Williams (who sat next to her) said, "I believe that Islam

2214-554: The problems is that she relies on evidence that has no apparent basis in reality." Williams discussed her involvement in the Andrew case; McClintock is a magistrate who opposes gay adoption cases and received support from the LCF. According to Williams, "It's not about the oppression of the homosexual community, but the evidence shows that children raised in those households are more likely to be gender confused, more likely to be drug-dependent, more likely to not finish school". Williams had

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2268-600: The right not to be discriminated against on religious grounds. Victoria Wasteney, a senior occupational therapist and head of forensic therapy at the John Howard Centre (a mental-health unit of the East London NHS Foundation Trust ), was suspended for nine months for "harassing and bullying" a junior Muslim colleague and receivied a written warning after an investigation. Wasteney had received an informal warning for arranging services by her church at

2322-455: The right to appeal her dismissal. The CLC represented teacher Joshua Sutcliffe, who was fired from two schools for misgendering a transgender boy and for comments made about Islam in a YouTube video. Sutcliffe, who blamed the loss of his jobs on the "LGBT+ mafia" and the "Islamic mafia", reached an undisclosed settlement with one of the schools. Christian parents Nigel and Sally Rowe took legal action after their son saw another boy wearing

2376-455: The school partnering with an LGBT+ charity, refused to engage in training activities involving the charity, and was dismissed in 2019 after being referred to an anti-terrorism programme because of a sermon in which he told students that it was all right to not accept "LGBT ideology". An employment-tribunal judge ruled that safeguarding concerns and a requirement to comply with standards regulations outweighed Randall's right to express his beliefs in

2430-527: The unit at which other staff felt pressured to sing and dance and donate to the church. The CLC supported an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal , where Judge Eady QC found that Wasteney's treatment was not because of her Christian beliefs but because of her inappropriate behaviour. The CLC became involved in the latter stages of the Alfie Evans case . Their involvement was unsuccessful, and

2484-518: The university's decision in 2017, but the Court of Appeal ruled two years later that "the mere expression of religious views about sin does not necessarily connote discrimination." Kristie Higgs, 47, was dismissed for gross misconduct by Farmor’s School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019 after sharing Facebook posts criticising plans to teach about LGBT+ relationships in primary schools. In 2024, Higgs won

2538-485: The vote and secured over 2% in three seats. Its vote share declined further in the 1999 Scottish Parliamentary elections , 2001 general election , and 2004 European Parliament election . It disbanded in 2004. The Pro-Life Alliance was established as a political party in October 1996 by Josephine Quintavalle and her son Bruno Quintavalle. Its membership consisted a high percentage of Roman Catholics. It contested 56 seats in

2592-581: The woman. Some Members of Parliament claimed not to have been aware of the vast change the decoupling of the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929 would have on the Abortion Act 1967, particularly in relation to the unborn disabled child. Politicians from the unionist and nationalist parties in Northern Ireland joined forces on 20 June 2000 to block any extension of the Abortion Act 1967 to Northern Ireland where terminations were only allowed on

2646-561: The workings of the Act in 1974 and declared its support. Changes to the Abortion Act 1967 were introduced in Parliament through the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 . The time limits were lowered from 28 to 24 weeks for most cases on the grounds that medical technology had advanced sufficiently to justify the change. Restrictions were removed for late abortions in cases of risk to life, fetal abnormality, or grave physical and mental injury to

2700-401: Was an MEP . Batten and Stroilov co-authored a book, The Inglorious Revolution . Stroilov advised the parents of Alfie Evans to pursue a private prosecution for conspiracy murder against doctors at Alder Hey Children's Hospital . The CLC works closely with Italian lawyer Bruno Quintavalle, former leader of the anti-abortion political party ProLife Alliance . Quintavallee, who worked on

2754-607: Was criticised by the judge. A High Court judge expressed concern about the conduct of CLC consultant Pavel Stroilov during the case. Mr. Justice Hayden described Stroilov as a "fanatical and deluded young man" whose "malign hand" was "inconsistent with the real interests of the parents' case." The judge accused CLC activists of doing Evans' parents "far more harm than it does them good", and said that their submissions were "littered with vituperation and bile". The CLC submissions, which said that "Alfie's best interests are irrelevant" when compared to his parents' wishes, were described as

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2808-467: Was no proper explanation as to why those items were permitted but a cross-necklace was not". Archie Battersbee, a 12-year-old boy, was diagnosed as brain-dead by the Royal London Hospital. His parents were assisted by the CLC in arguing unsuccessfully that his life support treatment should continue. Bernard Randall (a chaplain at the independent Trent College boarding school) objected to

2862-483: Was supposed to be offering her housing advice. The client complained to the council, leading to an investigation. The council said that Amachree revealed "sensitive personal information" about the client in an interview with the Daily Mail after the CLC became involved. The CLC supported Amachree in an unsuccessful legal claim for unfair dismissal, religious discrimination, and breach of contract. Eunice and Owen Johns,

2916-501: Was the subject of a November 2018 BBC Radio documentary, A Tale of Belief and the Courts , written and presented by Joshua Rozenberg . The pseudonymous " Secret Barrister " criticised the CLC and other fundamentalist groups in their 2020 book, Fake Law . The author accused the groups of "casting a fog over the facts and drilling into our deepest and most primal fears" while "pushing their own agendas". CLC consultant Pavel Stroilov called

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