‘Go away march of spite, health care is a human right’ chanted protesters
Socialist Worker
7 September 2024
Up to 400 people joined a pro-choice protest in parliament square on Saturday to confront the bigots’ annual March for Life.
The crowd chanted, “When abortion rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back,” and, “Go away march of spite, health care is a human right.”
Sept 5, 2024
Buffer zones around clinics offering abortion services in Scotland will come into force on 24 September.
The new law will prevent any protests or vigils from taking place within 200m (656ft) of 30 clinics around the country.
Opponents had claimed the legislation would infringe on freedom of religion, but it was passed overwhelmingly by MSPs in June.
Sep 1, 2024
By James Walker
SNP members have voted to enshrine the right to abortion in the constitution of an independent Scotland. The motion, which was proposed by the SNP’s Elgin branch, was comfortably passed at conference on Sunday.
It looked to "safeguard women's reproductive rights against any potential political or legal regression" amid recent developments in the United States, where the overturning of Roe v. Wade has led to significant rollbacks in women's right to an abortion in several states.
Continued: https://www.thenational.scot/news/24555117.snp-members-vote-enshrine-right-abortion-constitution/
Aug 21, 2024
A woman arrested after praying outside an abortion clinic has received a payout from police. Isabel Vaughan-Spruce from Worcestershire was accused of breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) outside the clinic in Kings Norton, Birmingham, but the charges were dropped last year.
She said her aim was to be "a peaceful and prayerful presence for women in crisis pregnancies". She received £13,000 from West Midlands Police, which said it settled her civil claim "without any admission of liability", adding the city council brought in the PSPO to deter protesters.
A 2023 law banning protests around clinics remains unenforced amid dispute over 'silent prayer'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
Aug 20, 2024
In the UK, protests outside clinics or hospitals that perform abortions are, theoretically, banned within a 150-metre "buffer zone". But the legislation has yet to be enforced in England and Wales, and draft guidance published by the last government controversially made allowances for silent prayer within the so-called "safe access zones".
Now, the Home Office is considering reviewing the guidance, reported The Daily Telegraph. Ministers will also review a provision which allows for "consensual" communication with those entering or leaving the premises, which protesters have "interpreted" as permission to hand out leaflets or talk to patients. Abortion rights activists and healthcare providers hope the review will result in both activities being banned as part of Labour's commitment to finally enforce the buffer zones.
Continued: https://theweek.com/health/the-battle-for-abortion-buffer-zones
Women are still waiting for the implementation of a new law to stop abortion clinic harassment, despite it being passed more than a year ago.
Sunday 18 August 2024
Olivia Petter
On 3 May last year, things were finally looking up for reproductive rights campaigners. After years of relentless pressure from abortion healthcare providers, the government had signed “buffer zones” into law, subsequently making it an offence to influence, obstruct, or harass those seeking terminations within 150 metres of a clinic.
“We were so relieved,” says Nichola Dowell, the clinical services matron at one such clinic, MSI in Camden, London. For years, she has witnessed the distressing impact that anti-abortion campaigners have on patients. “Abortion should be treated as healthcare, and everyone should be able to access it free from harassment.”
Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/abortion-buffer-zones-delay-2024-b2596299.html
The term “conscientious objection” is dishonest when applied to healthcare.
by Joyce Arthur, Rabble.ca
August 13, 2024
In medicine, so-called “conscientious objection” occurs when a healthcare professional refuses to provide a legal medical service based on their personal or religious beliefs. This happens mostly for abortion and contraceptive care.
I propose a more accurate term: Belief-based care denial. This phrase makes it clear that treatment is being refused due to ideological reasons and not clinical considerations. Further, care denials are not conscientious because they cause harms to patients and create barriers to care. The new term also illuminates the contradiction of a doctor elevating their personal interests above their duty to provide healthcare, even though doctors are bound by regulations and ethical codes that prioritize patient interests.
Continued: https://rabble.ca/health/belief-based-care-denial-lets-change-the-terms-of-the-debate/
Aug 12, 2024
Maria Zaccaro, BBC South Investigations
The debate over abortion has split countries for generations. While it continues to divide opinions across the world, protests outside abortion clinics in England and Wales could soon be banned under a new law. But what would that mean?
Speaking to BBC South, a nurse explained how the regular presence of protesters outside her workplace made her feel "frightened" to go to work, while another woman said campaigners outside an abortion clinic "saved my daughter's life".
STI and abortion rates have risen “perversely” since the coronavirus pandemic, according to Scotland’s women’s health champion
By Rachel Amery
10th Aug 2024
Contraception clinics are being cancelled because doctors and nurses are overwhelmed by the soaring number of sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) and abortions, it can be revealed.
Since the coronavirus pandemic, STIs and abortion rates have been on the rise in Scotland. This has led to sexual and reproductive health services having to cancel clinics providing long-action reversible contraception such as IUDs and implants, because staff are too busy dealing with STIs and abortions.
Continued: https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/contraception-clinics-stis-abortions-4734087
These areas stop protesters screaming and waving plastic foetuses at close range. All women deserve that protection
Michaela McDaid
Sat 3 Aug 2024
In the 17 years I have worked at an abortion clinic, I’ve become accustomed to being called a murderer or told I have blood on my hands. But I’ll never get used to seeing women and girls in tears because of the harassment they’ve faced. This intimidation by anti-abortion groups has been intensifying for years, but there has been a sharp increase since the overturning of Roe v Wade in the US in 2022. Clinic workers like me are left with the unenviable task of trying to shield people accessing healthcare from graphic images, and our team members from being spat at as they come into work.
Last year, it felt as if an end was finally in sight. The Labour MP Stella Creasy had previously tabled an amendment to introduce safe-access zones around all abortion clinics in England and Wales, which was then signed into law in 2023. These were supposed to create a buffer of 150 metres around clinics like the one I work at in south London, preventing the harassment we now see on a daily basis. The relief was unimaginable.
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