Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Dear marriage supporter,
Dave Brennan is the Director of Brephos, a project of pro-life group the Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform UK. While abortion is not C4M’s issue, Brennan sat down with me to explain why, in his words, “so many of these roads lead back to marriage”. Watch the full interview here:
This lands at a live political moment. On Monday (2 February 2026), the House of Lords continues committee stage scrutiny of the Crime and Policing Bill.
The Bill contains Clause 191. The Lords Library briefing explains the effect in plain terms. It would disapply existing criminal law on abortion for women acting in relation to their own pregnancies at any gestation (i.e. abortion up to birth for any or no reason) in England and Wales. In practice, women who end their own pregnancies outside the current legal framework would not face investigation, arrest, prosecution or imprisonment, while the law governing the provision of abortion services in a healthcare setting would remain unchanged. The full Bill page for stages and other documents is here.
Brennan’s central claim is that law is not the only lever. Culture and commitment matter, because most abortions do not happen in stable, married homes.
ONS conception statistics for England and Wales in 2022 show that 29.7% of conceptions ended in abortion. The contrast by marital status is stark. 36.0% of conceptions outside marriage ended in abortion, compared with 11.1% within marriage.
The DHSC abortion statistics tell the same story from a different dataset. In 2022, there were 252,122 abortions in England and Wales, and the DHSC tables record that 82% were for women whose marital status was “single”.
Brennan makes the stability point without compromise. He says, “whether it’s in the womb or out of the womb marriage makes life for that child safer at a physical level and emotional”.
Our conversation also widens to national consequences. “At an economic level we are running into an absolute catastrophe”, Brennan warns, pointing to a deeper demographic fragility. ONS reports a total fertility rate of 1.41 in England and Wales in 2024, well below replacement level.
At C4M, we know that the erosion of real marriage – through redefinition and political neglect – lies at the root of our nation’s malaise. We exist to reverse this trend and restore marriage to its rightful place as the gold standard of our culture.
If you are not yet supporting C4M financially, please help us defend marriage and the family by clicking the donate button at c4m.org.uk
Dr Tony Rucinski
facebook.com/coalition4marriage
Dear marriage supporter,
Dave Brennan is the Director of Brephos, a project of pro-life group the Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform UK. While abortion is not C4M’s issue, Brennan sat down with me to explain why, in his words, “so many of these roads lead back to marriage”. Watch the full interview here:
This lands at a live political moment. On Monday (2 February 2026), the House of Lords continues committee stage scrutiny of the Crime and Policing Bill.
The Bill contains Clause 191. The Lords Library briefing explains the effect in plain terms. It would disapply existing criminal law on abortion for women acting in relation to their own pregnancies at any gestation (i.e. abortion up to birth for any or no reason) in England and Wales. In practice, women who end their own pregnancies outside the current legal framework would not face investigation, arrest, prosecution or imprisonment, while the law governing the provision of abortion services in a healthcare setting would remain unchanged. The full Bill page for stages and other documents is here.
Brennan’s central claim is that law is not the only lever. Culture and commitment matter, because most abortions do not happen in stable, married homes.
ONS conception statistics for England and Wales in 2022 show that 29.7% of conceptions ended in abortion. The contrast by marital status is stark. 36.0% of conceptions outside marriage ended in abortion, compared with 11.1% within marriage.
The DHSC abortion statistics tell the same story from a different dataset. In 2022, there were 252,122 abortions in England and Wales, and the DHSC tables record that 82% were for women whose marital status was “single”.
Brennan makes the stability point without compromise. He says, “whether it’s in the womb or out of the womb marriage makes life for that child safer at a physical level and emotional”.
Our conversation also widens to national consequences. “At an economic level we are running into an absolute catastrophe”, Brennan warns, pointing to a deeper demographic fragility. ONS reports a total fertility rate of 1.41 in England and Wales in 2024, well below replacement level.
At C4M, we know that the erosion of real marriage – through redefinition and political neglect – lies at the root of our nation’s malaise. We exist to reverse this trend and restore marriage to its rightful place as the gold standard of our culture.
If you are not yet supporting C4M financially, please help us defend marriage and the family by clicking the donate button at c4m.org.uk
Dr Tony Rucinski
facebook.com/coalition4marriage
