MPs call for exclusion zones around abortion clinics to stop protests

MPs call for exclusion zones around abortion clinics to stop protests
Home secretary urged to follow lead of Ealing council in effort to prevent harassment

Dan Sabbagh
Thu 31 May 2018

Dozens of MPs are demanding Sajid Javid introduce exclusion zones outside abortion clinics in England and Wales to prevent protesters from harassing women, ahead of a court case that could see the sole existing safety area scrapped.

Rupa Huq, who represents Ealing Central and Acton, accused the home secretary of sitting on a review started by his predecessor Amber Rudd, which she and 160 other MPs and peers from all parties believe could halt emotive anti-abortion protests that take place outside an estimated 42 clinics.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/31/mps-call-for-exclusion-zones-around-abortion-clinics-protests-harassment


Abortion robots confiscated by police for distributing pills at Belfast protest

Abortion robots confiscated by police for distributing pills at Belfast protest

Anthony Cuthbertson
May 31, 2018

Two robots delivering abortion pills at a protest in Belfast have been confiscated by police.

The robots were part of an initiative by the group Women on Waves, who claimed that the country's "mediaeval" anti-abortion laws were being broken because the so-called abortion robots were being operated from the Netherlands.

"We try to find legal loopholes to draw attention to laws that violate women's rights," Rebecca Gomperts, a spokesperson for Women on Waves, told The Independent.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/abortion-robot-belfast-protest-northern-ireland-pills-deliver-a8377591.html


Northern Irish women protesting anti-abortion laws take illegal termination pills in front of police

Northern Irish women protesting anti-abortion laws take illegal termination pills in front of police

Alex Matthews, King Health Correspondent
May 31, 2018

Women protesting Northern Ireland's "medieval" anti-abortion laws have taken illegal termination pills in front of police outside Belfast's main court buildings.

Officers seized the pills and attempted to remove one woman who openly took a tablet which was delivered to protestors by a tiny robot controlled from the Netherlands to circumvent the country's laws.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/northern-ireland-abortion-protest-laws-women-pills-police-belfast-a8377506.html


Taking abortion pills distributed at Belfast pro-choice rally may lead to arrest, warn police

Taking abortion pills distributed at Belfast pro-choice rally may lead to arrest, warn police

By Victoria Leonard
May 31 2018

Pregnant women who take abortion pills delivered by a pro-choice organisation’s ‘abortion robot’ outside a Belfast courthouse this afternoon could face charges, the PSNI has warned.

The robot will be on the so-called Bus4Choice run by social feminist organisation Rosa NI with the support of web-based abortion pills provider Women on Web and Women on Waves.

Continued: https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/taking-abortion-pills-distributed-at-belfast-prochoice-rally-may-lead-to-arrest-warn-police-36963415.html


Canada – Safe-access zones at abortion clinics are constitutional

Opinion: Safe-access zones at abortion clinics are constitutional

Joyce Arthur
Updated: May 31, 2018

There’s been much misinformation in the debate over Bill 9, the proposed safe-access zone law to protect Alberta’s abortion clinics. Surprisingly, those who oppose the bill seem unaware that British Columbia has enforced a very similar law since 1995 and it’s been held to be constitutional.

Since the Alberta law was closely adapted from B.C.’s law, we can be confident it will also meet Charter scrutiny. In fact, based on the legal soundness of the B.C. law, similar laws have recently been passed in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, and Ontario. Alberta is simply following in their footsteps.

Continued: http://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-safe-access-zones-at-abortion-clinics-are-constitutional


What Ireland’s Abortion Referendum Means for Latin America

What Ireland’s Abortion Referendum Means for Latin America
Countries in the Region Should Ease Abortion Restrictions

José Miguel Vivanco
Executive Director, Americas Division @JMVivancoHRW
May 31, 2018

Last week, when 66.4 percent of Irish voters stunned the world by voting to end the country’s ban on abortion, it gave many hope that countries in Latin America and the Caribbean—which have some of the world’s most restrictive abortion laws—would join the global trend towards easing abortion restrictions.

Just last year Chile ended its longstanding total abortion ban, allowing the procedure if the life of the pregnant woman is at risk, if the pregnancy is the result of rape, or if the fetus will not survive outside the womb.

Continued: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/31/what-irelands-abortion-referendum-means-latin-america


What Happens When Abortion Is Banned?

What Happens When Abortion Is Banned?

By Michelle Oberman
May 31, 2018

The world of illegal abortion today looks nothing like it did 45 years ago.

When I first visited Chile, in 2008, it was one of only a handful of countries in the world that banned abortion in all cases, without exception. Given that hundreds of women a year died from botched illegal abortions in the United States before Roe v. Wade, which legalized the procedure in 1973, I expected to find hospitals in Chile overflowing with dying women. Instead, I found that abortion drugs have dramatically altered the situation.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/31/opinion/sunday/abortion-banned-latin-america.html


Finland – Foreign Minister defends role in anti-abortion march while on official trip to Canada

Foreign Minister defends role in anti-abortion march while on official trip to Canada
Foreign Minister Timo Soini told Yle that he sees no contradiction between his personal convictions and Finnish foreign policy.

May 31, 2018

On Wednesday, tabloid daily Iltalehti reported that Foreign Minister Timo Soini, who is Catholic, had participated in an anti-abortion march while on an official trip to represent Finland at Arctic Council meetings in Ottawa, Canada in early May.

According to the paper, Soini wrote about the event in his blog. “In Ottawa, one night I attended an evening vigil by the Pro-Life movement. It was an outdoor event, not in church. The event preceded a major pro-life march in Ottawa the next day,” the minister said.

Continued: https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/foreign_minister_defends_role_in_anti-abortion_march_while_on_official_trip_to_canada/10232304


Women defy authorities by taking abortion pills in Belfast

Women defy authorities by taking abortion pills in Belfast
PSNI tried to remove one of the pro-choice activists but gave up after stand-off

May 31, 2018

Pro-choice campaigners have taken abortion pills outside Northern Ireland’s main court buildings in defiance of the strict laws governing terminations.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where the procedure is not legal, aside from exceptional cases, and the Republic has voted to allow it in early pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/abortion-referendum/women-defy-authorities-by-taking-abortion-pills-in-belfast-1.3515120


DUP says it will not be ‘bullied’ into changing abortion stance

DUP says it will not be ‘bullied’ into changing abortion stance
PSNI reviewing protest footage to determine whether any offences have been committed

May 31, 2018
Amanda Ferguson

The DUP has said Northern Ireland will not be “bullied or bounced” into changing its abortion laws after feminist activists swallowed abortion pills outside Laganside courts in Belfast.

Anti-abortion South Down MLA Jim Wells was speaking on Thursday outside the North’s main court buildings after three pro-choice campaigners took abortion pills in front of the PSNI in defiance of the strict laws governing terminations.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/abortion-referendum/dup-says-it-will-not-be-bullied-into-changing-abortion-stance-1.3515508