It isn’t just the US: abortion barriers in Britain are forcing women to travel miles for treatment

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, access to second-trimester abortions still depends on a damaging postcode lottery

Rachel Connolly
Wed 22 Jun 2022

When a draft supreme court decision was leaked in May showing that judges intended to overturn Roe v Wade, many in the UK reacted with outrage. Rightly so: such a law change would leave abortion rules up to individual states. Rights groups estimate that abortion could become illegal in about half the states if this is successful. Americans would be forced to travel to states where it was still legal, or order costly abortion medicine online, risking severe legal consequences by doing so. Overturning Roe v Wade would probably also inspire anti-choice campaign groups to pursue legal action elsewhere in the world.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/22/abortion-hierarchy-uk-lack-of-services-scotland-northern-ireland-england-terminate-pregnancy


What Ireland’s Past Can Tell Us About A Post-Roe America

By Monica Potts
JUN. 8, 2022

Before 2018, most women in the Republic of Ireland were able to get abortions only if they traveled to a clinic in England or Wales or had a self-managed abortion at home, but figuring out how to do either of those options was difficult.

Information on abortion was censored in the first years of the ban, which took effect in 19831. Certain books were prohibited, and even the Irish edition of Cosmopolitan magazine had blank pages instead of adverts for British clinics. Meanwhile, those who sought abortions faced isolation, stigma and limited help from medical professionals. And for the few who were able to overcome those barriers and somehow reach one of the feminist networks that could help with information, logistics and fundraising, they still might pay hundreds of pounds or more for the procedure, transportation, meals and a hotel.

Continued: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-irelands-past-can-tell-us-about-a-post-roe-america/


The Scottish Government is failing women when it comes to abortion

By Lucy Grieve
Sunday, 5th June 2022

Since 2019, 170 Scottish women – including children under the age of 16 – have been sent across the border into England to have an abortion. This roughly equates to one Scottish woman every week that is having to make this journey to access healthcare that is legal in Scotland.

This is not happening because these women are located in remote areas, or because they require specialist treatment for complex medical issues, in fact it is quite the opposite. Women from cities that enjoy some of Scotland’s best healthcare infrastructure, like Glasgow, who are in their second trimester of pregnancy where abortion care has been legal for more than 50 years are being shipped as far away as Bournemouth on the south coast of England to have an abortion.

Continued: https://www.scotsman.com/health/the-scottish-government-is-failing-women-when-it-comes-to-abortion-lucy-grieve-3720095


Canada and Mexico prepare to accept Americans seeking abortions

If the US supreme court does vote to overthrow Roe v Wade, many Americans in need of surgical abortions could be forced to travel to Canada or Mexico

Hilary Beaumont
Mon 9 May 2022

Carolyn Egan has seen people cross the Canada-US border for abortions – going north to south.

In the years before Canada’s supreme court legalised abortion in 1988, it was common for Canadians who needed abortions to travel to the US. “We had a network of people who could make referrals and help them get there [to the US]. If it’s necessary, that probably would happen again – but the other way,” said Egan, spokesperson for the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/09/canada-mexico-abortions-american


French MPs approve law to extend abortion time limit

MPs in France have approved a law that extends the deadline for abortions, despite opposition from pro-life activists and far-right representatives.

25 February 2022

The law extending the abotion limit from 12 weeks to 14 weeks was approved by 135 lawmakers in a final vote in the Assemblée nationale on Wednesday, with 47 MPs voting against the extension, and nine abstaining.

It will be one of the final bills to be passed in this Parliament before it closes ahead of April’s presidential election.

Continued: https://www.thelocal.fr/20220225/french-mps-approve-law-to-extend-abortion-time-limit/


Europe – The abortion travel agents: ‘Some women know what they need, others just say: help’

With reproductive rights being increasingly restricted in Europe, people are relying on a network of volunteers to help them

Introduction Margaret Atwood
Interviews Candice Pires
Sat 19 Feb 2022

When The Handmaid’s Tale first came out in 1985, the initial response was broadly that people thought such threats to women’s bodies and reproductive rights “couldn’t happen here”. By the time it aired as a TV series in 2017, just after Donald Trump was inaugurated in the US, people were no longer so sure. With every headline about gains in reproductive rights – Ireland repealing the eighth amendment in 2018, which had effectively banned abortions – there are others that underscore how fragile these rights are, wherever you live.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/19/the-abortion-travel-agents-some-women-know-what-they-need-others-just-say-help-europe-margaret-atwood


How the COVID-19 pandemic has affected abortion care in Canada

January 5, 2022
Kate Wahl, Madeleine Ennis

Abortions are common and essential medical procedures; one in three women in Canada have an abortion in their lifetime. Access to this care helps people plan and space out their pregnancies, providing vital benefits to individuals, families and society.

Pandemic-related travel restrictions and facility closures initially jeopardized access to abortion care. However, the pandemic has also become a catalyst for more accessible ways to deliver abortion care, such as providing medical abortions, which are drug-induced rather than surgical, via telemedicine.

Continued: https://theconversation.com/how-the-covid-19-pandemic-has-affected-abortion-care-in-canada-168722


Ireland’s abortion laws ‘still failing women who struggle to access services’

The Irish Family Planning Association has called for a full decriminalisation of services

Cate McCurry
Jan 3, 2022

Ireland’s abortion laws are still failing women who struggle to access services, a family planning group has said, because of a lack of provision and time restrictions on terminations.

Niall Behan, chief executive of the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), called for a full decriminalisation of abortion services in the country.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/ireland-dublin-brexit-department-of-health-b1985818.html?r=71510


Poland: A Year On, Abortion Ruling Harms Women

19/10/2021
International Federation for Human Rights

(Brussels, October 19, 2021) – Women, girls,
and all pregnant people have faced extreme barriers to accessing legal
abortions in the year since a Constitutional Tribunal ruling virtually banned
legal abortion in Poland, 14 human rights organizations said today. Since the
ruling, women human rights defenders have also faced an increasingly hostile
and dangerous environment.

Poland’s authorities should end efforts to undermine reproductive rights and
weaken protections from gender-based violence. They should commit to protecting
women human rights defenders who have faced ongoing threats and attacks since
the October 2020 decision. Escalating death threats since October 9 against
Marta Lempart, co-founder of Ognopolski Strajk Kobiet (All-Poland Women’s Strike)
and a target of repeated threats for leading demonstrations supporting legal
abortion and women’s rights, led to her police protection during public
appearances.

Continued: https://www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/poland/poland-a-year-on-abortion-ruling-harms-women


B.C. hardly a leader in abortion access, say local advocates who oppose Texas ban

Sarah Grochowski
Oct 07, 2021 

Reproductive choice advocates in B.C. say Texas, which has imposed a near-total ban on abortion, is hardly alone in limiting access to abortions.

“There is a disparity of abortion access for women in British Columbia as well,” said Michelle Fortin, director of the Vancouver-based non-profit Options for Sexual Health. “Contraception isn’t yet free.”

Continued: https://vancouversun.com/news/b-c-hardly-a-leader-in-abortion-access-say-local-advocates-who-oppose-texas-ban