The Anti-Abortion Lobby In The UK Has More Power Than You Realise

The Anti-Abortion Lobby In The UK Has More Power Than You Realise
Jeremy Hunt's refusal to extend at-home abortions to women in England has nothing to do with women's welfare, and everything to do with politics

by Vicky Spratt
July 4, 2018

Donald Trump really has a way with words doesn’t he? As the news that Supreme Court judge Anthony Kennedy was retiring, women’s hearts raced. This is the Hand Maid’s Tale-esque moment American women had feared since the news broke that Trump had beaten Hillary: it is the right’s chance to undo Roe versus Wade: the landmark ruling that legalised abortion in America.

What has Trump said about it? Simply, when it comes to replacing Kennedy he plans to pick ‘a great one’ who, presumably, will be about as great as America is right now under his watch. Perhaps ‘great’ for Trump is a bit like ‘Brexit’ for Theresa May – a catch all phrase for something chaotically bad.

Continued: https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/real-life/the-anti-abortion-lobby-in-the-uk-has-more-power-than-you-realise/

Wales to allow women to take second abortion pill at home

Wales to allow women to take second abortion pill at home
Women in Wales will be allowed to take the second medication needed in a medical termination to be taken at home.

Friday 29 June 2018

By Sanya Burgess, news reporter

Wales is to allow women to take the abortion pill at home to avoid bleeding and pain in public. The change in the rules will allow women to take the second abortion pill at home, announced Welsh Health Secretary Vaughan Gething.

Guidance will be issued to health boards in Wales today to allow misoprostol, the second medication needed in a medical termination, to be self-administered at home.

Continued: https://news.sky.com/story/wales-to-allow-abortion-pill-at-home-11419927

UK – Without At-Home Abortion Pills, Women Risk Miscarrying In Public

Without At-Home Abortion Pills, Women Risk Miscarrying In Public
Wales announced plans to follow Scotland and allow women to take the second abortion pill at home - when will the rest of the UK join?

19/04/2018
By Rachel Moss

Beth Redmond, 25, from Merseyside, was in her first year of university when she became pregnant and decided to have an abortion. Miles from home, with no close friends and family nearby, she was forced to pay someone from her course, whom she barely knew, £20 to drive her the 45-minute journey to the abortion clinic, because her doctor had advised her against taking public transport.

As soon as Beth left the clinic her miscarriage symptoms began, she experienced pain and heavy bleeding. “It was like period pain but 10 times worse, and with the added anxiety of being in a near stranger’s car, for 45 minutes,” she tells HuffPost UK. “I crawled from the car to my room and stayed there for a couple of days.”

Continued: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/women-are-risking-miscarrying-in-public-because-at-home-abortion-pills-are-illegal_uk_5ad7059ce4b0e4d0715b7bf0

This Is Why Women In England Can’t Take Abortion Pills At Home

This Is Why Women In England Can't Take Abortion Pills At Home
In England it is illegal to take abortion pills at home. This has nothing to do with clinical advice and everything to do with politics, say experts.

by Vicky Spratt
18 04 2018

Across the United Kingdom (with the exception of Northern Ireland) abortion has been legal since the 1967 Abortion Act came into force. However, many experts argue that it’s still not as accessible as it could be.

When Sarah (not her real name) was 16 she accidentally became pregnant and decided to have an abortion. At the time, she was living in a commuter belt town where South London meets the Surrey Hills. She recalls how her GP referred her to a London clinic for a medical abortion (which involves taking pills as opposed to undergoing a surgical procedure).

continued: https://thedebrief.co.uk/news/politics/buy-abortion-pills-abortion-at-home/

UK – Women must be allowed to take abortion pills at home – anything else is a double standard

Women must be allowed to take abortion pills at home - anything else is a double standard

29 March 2018

“I was counting down the seconds until I arrived home. I collapsed almost as soon as I got inside.”

Claudia almost miscarried in a taxi on the way back from an abortion clinic. Hers is just one story among thousands from women in Britain, all because of rules that are 50 years old.

Now, the Women's Equality Party (WEP), of which I am leader, is asking Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to bring vital healthcare provision for women up to date - with no change to the law necessary.

Continued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/women-must-allowed-take-abortion-pills-home-anything-else/

UK: Abortion clinics will have to display official rating from Care Quality Commission

Abortion clinics will have to display official rating from Care Quality Commission

Alexandra Richards
Jan 3, 2018

Abortion clinics will have to publicly display an official rating from the Care Quality Commission.

The Department of Health is extending the CQC’s current rating system to include a new group of health services.

All healthcare organisations in England offering regulated care will now be rated by the commission and awarded marks which they will have to display on their websites or on their premises.

Continued at source: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/abortion-clinics-will-have-to-display-official-rating-from-care-quality-commission-a3730711.html

03.01.2018

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Care Quality Commission

UK: Remove risk of prison for having an abortion, medics’ group urges Jeremy Hunt

Remove risk of prison for having an abortion, medics’ group urges Jeremy Hunt
Kat Lay, Health Correspondent
November 23 2017

An influential medics’ group will begin lobbying the government to decriminalise abortion, after a vote by its council today.

The decision, by the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH), will put pressure on Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, to permit women in England to take termination drugs at home, as they can in Scotland.

Continued at source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/remove-risk-of-prison-for-having-an-abortion-medics-group-urges-jeremy-hunt-health-secretary-faculty-of-sexual-and-reproductive-healthcare-fjqj7g0cn

23.11.2017

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abortion law reform

decriminalisation of abortion

Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare

FSRH

Jeremy Hunt

Offences Against the Person Act 1861

UK: Abortion clinics set to face Ofsted-style inspections and be rated after a string of scandals

Abortion clinics set to face Ofsted-style inspections and be rated after a string of scandals

Ministers said private providers will now be rated in a bid to end the 'lottery of poor practice'
By Nick McDermott, Health Editor
14th September 2017

A health watchdog has been given new powers to clampdown on shoddy care.

Ministers said private providers will now be rated in a bid to end the “lottery of poor practice”.

Investigators last year uncovered 2,600 examples of poor practice at Marie Stopes International.

Continued at source: The Sun: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4461375/abortion-clinics-set-to-face-ofsted-style-inspections-and-be-rated-after-a-string-of-scandals/

14.09.2017

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anti-choice witchhunt

Care Quality Commission

Health minister Philip Dunne

Jeremy Hunt

Marie Stopes International

UK: Theresa May urged to give Tory MPs free vote on scrapping abortion charges for Northern Irish women coming to Britain

Theresa May urged to give Tory MPs free vote on scrapping abortion charges for Northern Irish women coming to Britain

Conservative MPs are expected to be whipped to vote against free terminations – despite abortion issues being a 'matter of conscience'

Rob Merrick Deputy Political Editor
Tuesday 27 June 2017

Theresa May is being challenged to give Conservative MPs a free vote on scrapping charges for Northern Irish women forced to travel to Britain for an abortion.

Scores of MPs will try to secure free NHS terminations for many hundreds of women who make the journey every year – typically paying £1,400 for a private operation – in a showdown vote expected on Thursday.

Continued at source: The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-tory-mp-free-vote-northern-ireland-women-abortions-forced-travel-britain-uk-supreme-a7810981.html

Abortion: NI women not entitled to NHS terminations in England

June 14, 2017

The Supreme Court challenge centred on the case of a Northern Ireland woman who became pregnant when she was 15. She went to England with her mother for an abortion in a private clinic in 2012, at a cost of about £900.Northern Ireland's abortion law is much stricter than the rest of the UK.

The mother and daughter took the case against UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who conceded that he had the power to make provisions for Northern Ireland residents to access free NHS abortions in England.

Continued at link:BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-40271763

14.06.2017