Abortion clinic staff feel ‘abandoned’, says charity

14 June 2025

Staff at an abortion clinic feel "abandoned" by police because no-one has been prosecuted following more than 40 reports of alleged criminal damage to their vehicles, a charity has said.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) runs the clinic in Ophir Road, Bournemouth, which anti-abortion protesters had stationed themselves outside of before a council order was implemented in 2022.

The clinic was brought to international attention when US Vice President JD Vance raised concerns over the prosecution of a man who breached a protection zone around it.

Contiuned: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7872evvyeyo.amp

UK – Anti-choice groups and some MPs want to end pills-by-post abortions that help thousands of women a year

It would be a huge blow to women's rights and hit those in vulnerable situations especially hard

By Jennifer Savin
13 June 2025

A group of cross-party MPs, including Reform's Richard Tice and Caroline Johnson of the Conservative Party, backed by ardent anti-choice groups with religious affiliations, are hoping to push forward an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill next week which would see the end of telemedicine (pills-by-post) abortions.

This method of ending a pregnancy is a preferred choice for thousands of women every year, particularly those who live in remote areas and who cannot easily access a clinic in person, and those in vulnerable situations, such as an abusive relationship.

Continued: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/health/a65057077/telemedicine-abortion-amendment/

13.06.2025

News

abortion law reform

Caroline Johnson

Crime and Policing bill

MSI Reproductive Choices

Richard Tice

telemedicine abortion

Wales is UK worst for surgical abortions, says charity

June 13, 2025
Kate Morgan, Communities correspondent, BBC Wales News

Wales is the worst part of the UK for providing surgical abortions with many women treated in England, according to a leading healthcare charity.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said it was "astonishing" Wales was behind Northern Ireland, where abortion was only decriminalised in 2019.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9890ld7dmjo

13.06.2025

News

Bpas

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

Poland: Abortion rights, the big absentee in the presidential election

13/06/2025
Piotr Lapinski

Karol Nawrocki, the candidate backed by the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, was elected President of Poland on Sunday 1 June 2025. While this country is one of the most restrictive European states with abortion legislation, this election raises concerns about the future of abortion rights.

13 June 2025. Every year, thousands of women leave Poland to terminate their pregnancies. Those who can’t, do so in unsafe conditions, risking their lives. This well-documented reality was formally recognized in an investigative report published in 2024 by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The report concluded that the criminalization of abortion assistance, combined with rare legal exceptions and frequent inaccessibility of services, prevents the majority of Polish women from exercising the right to safe and legal abortion.

Continued: https://www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/poland/poland-abortion-rights-the-big-absentee-in-the-presidential-election

Russian officials approve abortion propaganda ban, increase pressure on women

Darina Boykova | U. Ottawa Faculty of Law, CA
June 12, 2025

Saint Petersburg legislators approved a provincial bill Wednesday to introduce fines for “encouragement of abortions” to purportedly help create a “safe… family and motherhood informational environment” in the region.

The bill would establish an increasing fine scale for citizens, public persons, and people of legal professions for encouraging abortions. When asked why the male authors of the bill did not consult female legislators, one of them stated, “We stand on the side of protection of interests of women. We clearly understand the situations women are in.”

Continued: https://www.jurist.org/news/2025/06/russian-officials-approve-abortion-propaganda-prohibition-increase-pressure-on-women/

12.06.2025

Why are so many European microstates against abortion?

In Andorra and Liechtenstein, abortion is still banned. In Monaco, it is illegal to perform an abortion. San Marino is an exception: in 2022 abortion was finally legalised. From the seaside principality of Monaco to the hilly enclave of San Marino, ENTR set out to meet those who fought sometimes insurmountable battles in the smallest of countries to break one of the biggest taboos.

June 12, 2025
By: Renée BERTINI, Jade BRIEND-GUY

“I didn't actually know I was pregnant, because I was on the pill". Under the already scorching May sun, Juliette Rapaire, 30, begins her story with a scenario common to many who choose to have an abortion. "It was the end of 2022, I went to see a gynaecologist for ovarian cysts, and he told me that I was pregnant. I was almost a month pregnant, so it was still within the legal time frame to get an abortion in France."

The young Monegasque woman then decided to contact a French gynaecologist practicing just across Monaco’s borders. On paper, abortion has been decriminalised in the microstate since 2019. People choosing to terminate their pregnancy no longer risk a fine or imprisonment. But doctors and midwives who conduct abortions still risk sanctions: five to ten years in prison and a blanket ban on practicing medicine. This means people from Monaco trying to get an abortion still do so elsewhere, mainly in France.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20250612-why-are-so-many-european-microstates-against-abortion-monaco-san-marino

Everything you need to know ahead of an important UK vote on abortion next week

Under a Victorian law, abortion is still technically illegal in the UK – here's what is happening to fight that

By Marie-Claire Chappet
12 June 2025

Many living in the UK may be unaware that, though abortions can be accessed safely and legally in this country, abortion is – at least technically – still illegal. This is because of a preexisting law from 1861, a legal quirk that an upcoming parliamentary vote hopes to resolve.

All abortions that take place in the UK are only available under the 1967 Abortion Act, which sets out certain parameters – such as the time period in which one can have a termination and that requests must have medical approval. This means that any abortion which happens outside of these restrictions is a criminal act, subject to lengthy jail time. The 1861 law serves as the legal framework. The 1967 act is the exception.

Continued: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/culture/culture-news/a65034495/uk-vote-on-abortion/

12.06.2025

News

1967 Abortion Act

abortion law reform

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

Katherine O’Brien

MSI Reproductive Choices

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

MPs set to vote on decriminalising abortion in England and Wales

June 10, 2025
Brian Wheeler, Nick Triggle

Women would no longer be prosecuted for terminating a pregnancy in England and Wales under a proposed shake-up of abortion laws.

MPs are set to get a free vote next week - meaning they will not be told how to vote by their party - on a change to the law.

It comes amid concern more women are being investigated by police on suspicion of illegally ending a pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg5v900v1y6o

10.06.2025

News

1967 Abortion Act

abortion law reform

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

Nicola Packer

Offences Against the Person Act of 1861

Rachael Clarke

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Nearly half of Polish women voted for Karol Nawrocki, dashing hopes for abortion reform

Activists are disillusioned by the new president’s plan to stop liberalisation.

Aleksandra Krzysztoszek, Euractiv Poland
Jun 10, 2025

The election of conservative firebrand Karol Nawrocki as Poland's president is slamming the brakes on plans to legislate for legal abortion, leaving reproductive rights activists disillusioned and looking abroad once more.

Throughout the election campaign, Nawrocki left little doubt about his stance on abortion, pledging not to sign a proposed law by Donald Tusk's centrist coalition that would restore the so-called abortion compromise which would legalise abortion in cases of rape, severe fetal abnormalities, or threat to the mother’s life.

Continued: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/nearly-half-of-polish-women-voted-for-karol-nawrocki-dashing-hopes-for-abortion-reform/

UK – Creasy attempt to change abortion law ‘not supported by service providers’

British Pregnancy Advisory Service says NC20 amendment to criminal justice bill ‘not right way’ to overhaul the law

Hannah Al-Othman
Tue 10 Jun 2025

An attempt to change the law on abortion led by the Labour MP Stella Creasy is not supported by “any of the abortion providers in the country”, a leading pro-choice charity has said.

Rachael Clarke, the head of advocacy at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas), said Creasy’s NC20 amendment to the criminal justice bill “is not the right way” to overhaul abortion laws.

Bpas is instead backing a separate proposal, NC1, put forward by another Labour backbencher, Tonia Antoniazzi.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/10/creasy-attempt-to-change-abortion-law-not-supported-by-abortion-providers-bpas