Case of UK woman jailed for late abortion is difficult for activists on both sides

Pro-choice and anti-abortion supporters face dilemmas arising from the recent tragic case, making it difficult to press ministers for a change in the law

Alexandra Topping and Ben Quinn
Sat 17 Jun 2023

To those familiar with the fraught battle lines around one of society’s most emotive issues, the reaction of anti-abortion campaigners in the hours after a woman was jailed for procuring a late abortion appeared muted.

Key voices from major anti-abortion groups were conspicuously absent in the coverage, while pro-choice campaigners’ calls for decriminalisation were tempered by the insistence that they were not calling for freely available abortion at any stage of a pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/17/case-uk-woman-jailed-late-abortion-difficult-both-sides


UK – Pregnant woman shocked after GP ‘gave her anti-abortion leaflet’

Woman was reportedly handed information from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children at London clinic

Shanti Das
Sat 30 Jul 2022

A pregnant woman who told her GP she was considering having an abortion says she was left “shocked and traumatised” after being given a leaflet for an anti-abortion group.

The woman, 38, says she was seeking treatment for a bladder problem on 19 July when a doctor at All Saints Medical Centre in Plumstead, south-east London, asked whether she was pregnant.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/30/pregnant-woman-shocked-gp-anti-abortion-leaflet-society-protection-unborn-children-spuc


Women who underwent abortions face “trauma” as protests continue in Scotland

Women who went through abortions have told how "inescapable" and "damaging" anti-abortion protests are as Scotland sees an increase in protests outside clinics and hospitals.

By Hannah Brown
Sunday, 1st May 2022

Megan Braithwaite, 39, had an abortion for medical reasons in Edinburgh eight years ago. It was her first pregnancy and both her and her husband were trying for a baby.

"It was at the 20-week screening when we found out that the baby had a fetal anomaly and it was truly awful”, she said.

Continued: https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/women-who-underwent-abortions-face-trauma-as-protests-continue-in-scotland-3676260


UK – Women from poorer backgrounds three times more likely to have abortions

Exclusive: gap between worst-off and wealthiest women has widened during pandemic, British Pregnancy Advisory Service figures show

Tobi Thomas and Jessica Elgot
Tue 23 Mar 2021

Women from the most deprived backgrounds are almost three times more likely to have abortions than women from the wealthiest backgrounds, and the gap has worsened during the pandemic, data suggests.

A Guardian analysis of data provided by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) found that in 2020, women from the most deprived backgrounds accounted for 16.5% of all abortions, and women from the wealthiest backgrounds accounted for 5.9%.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/23/women-from-poorer-backgrounds-three-times-more-likely-to-have-abortions


Anti-abortion protests anger Cardiff students

Anti-abortion protests anger Cardiff students
University has been targeted after students’ union adopted official pro-choice stance

Sally Weale, Education correspondent
Thu 30 Jan 2020

Students at Cardiff University have expressed anger after anti-abortion activists returned on the first day of the new term to protest outside the students’ union.

It was the fourth demonstration to be held at the university in recent weeks and again featured large-scale graphic images, which students say cause “undue distress and trauma”.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jan/30/anti-abortion-protests-anger-cardiff-students


UK – Anti-abortion activists increasingly targeting UK university students

Anti-abortion activists increasingly targeting UK university students
NUS reports rise in anti-abortion societies in students’ unions and demonstrations nationwide

Sally Weale, Education correspondent
Sun 5 Jan 2020

Anti-abortion campaigners are increasingly targeting students at UK universities, where there has been a rise in the number of anti-abortion societies on campus and demonstrations by outside groups displaying graphic imagery.

The campaign has gathered momentum on the back of a continuing debate about freedom of speech in universities. Some student unions have been threatened with legal action if they attempt to prevent anti-abortion groups opening on campus.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/05/anti-abortion-activists-increasingly-targeting-uk-university-students


UK – Police investigate ‘extremist’ targeting of Stella Creasy by anti-abortion group

Police investigate ‘extremist’ targeting of Stella Creasy by anti-abortion group
Pregnant, pro-choice Labour MP subject to intense campaigning in her London constituency

Mark Townsend, Observer home affairs editor
Sun 6 Oct 2019

Scotland Yard is investigating the intimidation and harassment of Stella Creasy following the “extremist” targeting of the Labour MP by anti-abortion protesters over the past week.

Metropolitan police officers said they had taken a detailed statement from Creasy, the MP for Walthamstow in north-east London, and were examining evidence to ascertain whether the campaign against the pregnant, pro-choice politician had crossed the line.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/06/stella-creasy-anti-abortion-group-police-investigate-extremist-targeting


UK- Police called in after medics attacked by anti abortion campaigners

Police called in after medics attacked by anti abortion campaigners

Laura FitzPatrick
24 FEBRUARY 2019

Police have been called in by medics attacked by pro-life abortion campaigners, as experts warn that social media has made these activists more militant.

It comes ahead of a US-backed campaign that will see vigils held outside 10 UK clinics over the period of lent, for 12 hours a day.

Continued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/24/police-called-medics-attacked-anti-abortion-campaigners/