And then there’s the money.
Amnesty International UK – a human rights-focused, pro-choice charity – has observed a significant increase in spending on the anti-abortion cause in Britain. They analysed the expenditure of 25 anti-abortion groups and six UK branches of socially conservative US organisations. Between 2020 and 2023, they say, the expenditure of anti-abortion groups increased by 34%, and British branches of US organisations by 46%.
Rachel’s Vineyard, a charity which offers retreats for people who feel negatively affected by an abortion (be it their own or someone else’s) registered in the UK in 2020. It is heavily inspired by an American charity of the same name created in the 1990s. In its first year, Rachel’s Vineyard UK spent just under £12,000. In the financial year ending March 2025 it spent £77,662.
It told the BBC that “Rachel’s Vineyard UK is funded entirely through charitable giving within the UK and does not receive financial support from abroad”.
This is not true for all groups.
The Alliance for Defending Freedom (ADF), founded in Arizona in the 1990s, claims to have played a role in overturning Roe v Wade. In 2015, an organisation with a similar name – ADF International (UK) – was founded in London. The majority of funding for the UK-based organisation comes from the US-headquartered ADF.
In 2020, the UK-based organisation received £324,000 in support from ADF in the US. By 2024 that had risen to £1.1m, out of a total £1.3m income, according to its 2024 annual report. Over the same period, it increased its number of staff from three to nine.
An ADF UK spokesperson told the BBC that their “work is privately funded, and we fully comply with all rules set out by the various regulators of the countries we are based in, including the UK.”
Of course, pro-choice groups also spend money. BPAS spent roughly £1.2m on “education, advocacy and research” in the last financial year, whilst charities like Amnesty have also spent funds campaigning for “reproductive rights” in the UK.