Twelve “Catholic” MPs vote to kill the innocent: the faithful must take action
By John Smeaton | 2 July 2025
As details emerge of twelve Members of UK Parliament (MPs), self-identifying as Catholics, who voted either for abortion up to birth (including during the birth process) or for assisted suicide — or both — around the feast of Corpus Christi last month, Voice of the Family is launching a Catholic action campaign, based on prayer, daily Communion, and penance for bishops.
Voice of the Family’s Catholic action campaign will be built on groups of the faithful and individuals who are already committed to the daily Rosary, daily Communion if possible, and sacrifices for bishops — praying, in particular that the Catholic bishops of England and Wales will reverse their policy of admitting to Holy Communion Catholic parliamentarians who vote for intrinsic evils. This reversal of policy is all the more urgent now that one Catholic priest has, courageously and in accordance with canon law, publicly refused Holy Communion to his local MP who voted for assisted suicide.
The following self-identified Catholic MPs voted last month for the decriminalisation of abortion and/or for the provision of assisted suicide in the British House of Commons:
Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat MP for Dorking and Horley)
Mr Coghlan voted for assisted suicide last month. According to The Observer, Mr Coghlan’s courageous local priest, Fr Vane, in the days before the vote, contacted him suggesting that a vote in favour of assisted suicide would be “obstinately persevering” in sin and that he would be refused Communion if he did so. Fr Vane pointed out to the MP, “As priests we are custodians of the sacraments.”
“The Sunday after the Commons vote, Vane followed through on his threat. He told parishioners during Mass that their MP would be refused Communion because of ‘the way he had voted’. The priest repeated the announcement at a later Mass with about 150 people present, though Coghlan was not present at either.”
In taking this action, Fr Vane was acting in complete conformity with Canon 915, in the 1983 Code of Canon Law promulgated by Pope John Paul II:
“The excommunicated and interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others who remain obstinately in manifestly grievous sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.”
His Eminence Cardinal Leo Raymond Burke, who was appointed Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura by Pope Benedict (2008–2014), the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church, explains Canon 195 in his book Deny Holy Communion? (Catholic Action for Faith and Family 2022):
“The text of [canon 915] is clear. Those under the imposed or declared ecclesiastical penalties of interdict and excommunication, and those who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be given Holy Communion. The text makes it clear that the Church has the responsibility to deny Holy Communion to those who are known to be under the imposed or declared penalties of excommunication and interdict, and to those who are known to persist obstinately in manifest grave sin. Although the text does not state so explicitly, it is clear that the Church’s responsibility is carried out by the minister of the Holy Communion.
“Regarding those who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, it is necessary to know that indeed the person does obstinately persist, that is, that his pastor has informed him about the grave and public sinfulness of what he is doing and has cautioned him about not approaching to receive Holy Communion …” (pp 49–50)
By Mr Coghlan’s own candid admission, Fr Ian Vane did exactly what Church law requires.
Dan Aldridge (Labour MP for Weston-super-Mare)
Mr Aldridge declared his Catholic identity in an Instagram post and on LinkedIn. Immediately after voting to decriminalise abortion up to the moment of birth, he frankly acknowledged his pro-abortion position on his constituency website, saying, “Fundamental to my vote was the principle of protecting women’s bodily autonomy and their right to choose”. Mr Aldridge also voted in favour of assisted suicide legislation.
Kevin Bonavia (Labour MP for Stevenage)
Mr Bonavia spoke about his Catholic identity in an interview with the local newspaper after being selected as the Labour party parliamentary candidate for Stevenage. Last month, he voted in favour of both decriminalising abortion up to the moment of birth and to legalise assisted suicide.
David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Mr Chadwick openly writes about his Catholic identity on Twitter and refers to his “staunch Roman Catholic family” background on the Liberal Democrats website for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, whilst clearly stating his support for assisted suicide legislation, saying, “I believe it is wrong that the current law denies people who are terminally ill dignity and choice at the end of their lives.” He also voted to decriminalise abortion up to the moment of birth.
Colum Eastwood (SDLP MP for Foyle)
Mr Eastwood voted for both abortion and for assisted suicide. In an interview for Belfast Telegraph, in answer to the questions, “Do you believe in God? Do you have a strong faith?” he replied, “Yes. It’s a faith that has been shaken, but it’s still there. I’m a struggling Christian. I don’t go to Mass every Sunday, but I try to get as often as I can.” Commenting on why he was going to vote for assisted suicide, Mr Eastwood said in an interview with the BBC, “We all know these things are happening. People with lots of money can go to Switzerland … We need to ensure that it is available to more people and it is important that a legal framework is put around this.”
Florence Eshalomi (Labour [Co-op] MP for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
She describes her faith as follows: “I am a serving Roman Catholic. I have worshipped at the same church on Brixton Road all my life. My life revolves around that church.” She voted for abortion.
Claire Hanna (SDLP MP for Belfast South and Mid Down)
The leader of the Social and Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) which has represented Catholics in Northern Ireland since the Province’s establishment.” She voted for abortion, making her comment on the election of Pope Leo XIV, expressing the hope that “Pope Leo will not shy away from calling out injustice and inhumanity”, bitterly ironic.
Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour MP for Salford)
Albeit described as a Catholic, she voted for the decriminalisation of abortion up to the moment of birth. In a BBC report, her spokesman said in 2020, “Rebecca unequivocally supports a woman’s right to choose and has only ever voted in favour of extending the right to abortion, such as in Northern Ireland.”
Dame Shiobhain McDonagh (Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden)
Described as a Catholic, she voted for abortion up to the moment of birth.
Andy McDonald (Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby)
Andy McDonald was a founding member of the “Catholics for Labour” group in 2017 which seeks to apply “Catholic social teaching to public policy” according to a spokesman for the group. He also benefited from having “an intern in my parliamentary office for 10 months: October 2018 – July 2019” which was funded by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, according to the Register of MPs’ interests. He voted for abortion up to the moment of birth.
Pat McFadden (Labour MP for Wolverhampton South East)
Described as a Catholic, he voted for abortion and for assisted suicide. The political website They Work for You, which archives MPs’ voting record in Parliament, says of him “He almost always voted for easier access to abortion.”
Oliver Ryan (Independent MP for Burnley)
Describes himself as a Catholic in Burnley Express, saying, “I also want to pay tribute to Pope Francis, who sadly passed away recently … As a Catholic, I was deeply moved by his passing. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.” Last month, Mr Ryan voted for abortion and for assisted suicide, on which he commented in the Lancashire Telegraph, “The bill is focused entirely on choice, and the final choice and final act of ending their own life must be taken by the terminally ill person themselves … Weighing up all views, as well as my own experiences and my own faith, on balance I will vote for the bill.”
The majority votes in support of abortion and assisted suicide supported in the British House of Commons last month are evils rooted in a centuries-old revolution against God and His Church, which reached a dramatic climax with the cultural revolution in the 1960s, which has also entered the Church, resulting in the catastrophic collapse of Christian civilisation.
Lack of formation of the Catholic faithful is having disastrous consequences for souls throughout the world as we saw, for example, in the San Marino abortion referendum in September 2021: in a country in which 97 per cent of the population profess the Catholic faith, 77.28 per cent of the voters backed abortion up to birth; and in Ireland, where on 25 May 2018, unborn Irish children were stripped of their dignity and protections by a huge majority of those who voted in the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment of its Constitution, with 66.9% in favour of killing the unborn and 33.1% against.
Voice of the Family, therefore, following the British Parliament’s catastrophic legislation against the protection of human life at its most vulnerable stages, appeals to the Catholic faithful to pray and take action.
Through daily Rosaries, daily Communion and sacrifices, we ask that you commit yourself to pray that bishops worldwide hear the cries of around 2 billion unborn children killed over the past thirty years alone, which is more than the estimated total number of those killed in all of the wars in recorded human history.
And we ask that, with filial reverence, you appeal to your local bishops to hear the cries of the innocent by denying obstinately pro-abortion politicians the sacrilegious reception of the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion. Those living in England and Wales can find the contact details of their local bishop here.
Finally, we ask all our readers around the world to write to the Rt Rev Richard Moth, Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, in support of the courageous Fr Ian Vane, the parish priest of St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Dorking, who refused Holy Communion to Chris Coghlan, who voted in support of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which will now continue to proceed through Parliament unless it is stopped in the House of Lords. Fr Vane took action in charitable concern for the eternal salvation of Mr Coghlan, for the faithful scandalised by his vote in support of assisted suicide, and for the potential victims of this wicked Bill.
You can write to Bishop Moth at bishop.richard@abdiocese.org.uk
To pledge your support for this Catholic action campaign, and for all other enquiries, write to us at info@voiceofthefamily.com