MPs receive 'baby-killer' hate mail

Female MPs are being targeted with hate mail by anti-abortion extremists.

Labour politicians have received anonymous letters branding them "baby killers" prior to a new debate over abortion laws.

Campaigners are targeting them at random in an effort to deter them from voting for any relaxation in legislation.

Today one Labour backbencher told how she had received a string of malicious letters. Jane Griffiths, MP for Reading East, claimed she had received the "flood of hate mail" despite the fact that she had never spoken out on the issue.

She said: "They were very unpleasant letters, which look as if they were scribbled off very quickly. One called me a baby killer and another described me as a prostitute.

"It is widely assumed that all female Labour MPs think women should have easy access to abortions so we get these letters. It is very nasty."

One group has revealed plans for a radical campaign. The UK Life League, which insists it is not behind the anonymous letters, is preparing to use hard-hitting tactics to discourage MPs from voting for changes in the autumn.

The Evening Standard has learned that a string of backbenchers will compete to table Private Members' Bills on the issue when they return.

The UK Life League is vowing to "stigmatise" pro-choice politicians. Activists will meet in London this week to decide tactics but are already working on mass mailshots, "naming and shaming" MPs who have a record of backing the right to decide on a pregnancy.

Activist Jim Dowson said: "We are trying to put a price on being pro-abortion. We are stepping it up and we are getting more professional at it." The debate was reignited after the Evening Standard published extraordinary pictures of foetuses in the womb.

The ultrasound images showed them moving and sucking their thumbs. The pictures prompted calls for a reduction in the time limit for abortions, which stands at 24 weeks - an age at which premature babies can now survive.

However, anti-abortion campaigners are deeply suspicious of such a move - fearing it will be accompanied by measures to make very early abortions easier. Many MPs believe women still find it too difficult to obtain terminations in the early stages of pregnancy, and they want abortions to be more widely available.

The UK Life League claims to have 13,000 members in England. It recently sent 3,800 highly inflammatory letters to people on the Isle of Wight, where there are plans to open a new abortion clinic. The activists hope similar tactics will intimidate MPs.