As we made clear last month, we oppose proportional representation (MMP) because we think it will make politics less democratic placing too much power in the hands of party elite and creating a second tier of elected politicians who do not represent constituents but who will be beholden only to party leadership for their jobs. This scenario will decrease our - and your - ability to lobby politicians on behalf of life and family issues.

On September 5, REAL Women issued a release making the same point. REAL Women vice-president, Gwen Landolt, said if implemented, PR would "undermine our democratic system of government." Furthermore, it would give feminists much more undeserved political power.

Indeed, many special interest groups (feminists, homosexuals, unions) support PR because they historically have had greater access to party and media elites and would be able to influence the selection of the party lists and skew public debate in their favour. We strongly urge you to vote against mixed member proportional representation in the referendum on October 10th.

We understand that well-intentioned people can come to different conclusions on political strategies and appreciate that things seem so bad in the political arena that many people are desperate to change the system. There certainly can be a civilized and polite debate on the issue, as there was in the pages of the July Interim when FCP leader Guiseppi Gori debated the merits of proportional representation with the paper's national affairs columnist Rory Leishman. But we remain convinced that political reform - electing better politicians who understand their responsibilities and who will stand up for the unborn and against their party leaders when necessary - and not electoral reform is necessary to fix the system, not an entirely new system.

Fr. Alphonse de Valk, whose Catholic Insight endorsed the Family Coalition Party, made clear that there is no rationale for using electoral reform as a pro-life litmus test. The October Interim will have a story raising the Life issues and providing voters with an ethical choice on election day. We remind supporters that we agree on what matters most: protecting the unborn. On October 10, vote pro-life and give a voice to the most vulnerable members of society.