Abortion Rights protest stands firm against bigots’ march in London

‘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.”

Continued: https://socialistworker.co.uk/news/abortion-rights-protest-stands-firm-against-bigots-march-in-london/


UK – Protesters on the streets to defend abortion rights

Four women in the last eight months have been prosecuted in Britain for having an abortion

By Sophie Squire, Socialist Worker
Saturday 02 September 2023

Around 500 pro-choice supporters confronted bigots who took part in an anti-abortion march in London on Saturday. Thousands joined the anti-abortion march, which happens every year. They were boosted by recent anti-choice prosecutions in Britain and restrictive laws across the world.

Protester Amity told Socialist Worker that anti-choice bigots are growing more confident. “I saw a lot of angry, mostly men, on their side. It’s shocking, as I’ve never been on one of these counter-demonstrations before.

Continued: https://socialistworker.co.uk/news/protesters-on-the-streets-to-defend-abortion-rights/


UK – Thousands march to decriminalise abortion after woman jailed for ending pregnancy after legal limit

Campaigners stress ‘abortion is healthcare, not a crime - we should not be policing people’s bodies’

Tara Cobham
June 17, 2023

Thousands of protesters calling for the decriminalisation of abortion have marched in central London following outrage at the conviction of a woman for ending her pregnancy beyond the legal cut-off of 24 weeks.

Campaigners stressed that “abortion is healthcare, not a crime”, after Carla Foster, 44, was this week sentenced to 28 months in jail, having obtained drugs to end her pregnancy at 32 to 34 weeks during lockdown.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/abortion-rights-march-london-woman-jailed-b2359503.html


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


Ireland – ’Frightening’ language and no abortion information: Warning issued over rogue pregnancy services

Women who have inadvertently engaged with these groups have found the experience “extremely distressing”.

January 17, 2021

THE HSE HAS issued a warning about unregulated crisis pregnancy services which present themselves as unbiased but have an anti-abortion stance.

A number of these services have profiles on social media and also advertise with stickers and posters in Dublin and other locations.

Continued: https://www.thejournal.ie/unregulated-crisis-pregnancy-services-in-ireland-5650166-Jan2022/


Texas abortion ban means ‘other US states will follow’, pro-choice campaigners warn

‘Rich women will have abortions, and poor women will die or have babies. That’s what’s going to happen in Texas’

By Jasmine Andersson, iNews UK
September 2, 2021

Texas’s strict new abortion ban puts women’s lives at risk and could cause other US states to follow suit, campaigners have warned.

In a major blow to abortion rights, the US Supreme Court refused to block the law – known as S.B. 8 – which bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

https://inews.co.uk/news/world/texas-abortion-law-ban-us-states-pro-choice-campaigners-1179534


Ireland – Government U-turn on safe access zones at abortion clinics

SAT, 07 AUG, 2021
ELAINE LOUGHLIN, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

The Government has scrapped promised laws to introduce safe access zones outside maternity hospitals and clinics providing abortion services.

Campaigners have hit out at Health Minister Stephen Donnelly for quietly shelving legislation to protect women and staff from intimidation when entering healthcare facilities, accusing him of "disregarding the electorate" and "disrespecting pregnant women".

Continued: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40354406.html


Telemedicine for abortions should be here to stay

Jillian Merchant
Monday July 05 2021

In recent weeks the Scottish government published its analysis of responses to its public consultation on the continued use of telemedicine for abortion services. It concluded that it would consider the responses, along with further evidence, before making any decision.

Last week this decision came under fire from the Catholic Media Office. As a starting point, it is important to note that public consultations on healthcare procedures are exceptionally rare. It says a lot about the lack of value and trust, placed by society on women and their health, that the public at large should have any say in medical procedures. There are few, if any, other subjects where scientific advances are seen with such fear and inaction than women’s health.

Continued: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/telemedicine-for-abortions-should-be-here-to-stay-ww3znv0kh


Slight decrease in the number of abortions carried out in Ireland last year, report shows

The report shows the vast majority of abortions were carried out in early pregnancies

Tue, Jun 29, 2021
Jade Wilson

A total of 6,577 abortions were carried out last year, which is a slight decrease on the first year of the service 2019, official Government figures show.

In 2020, the vast majority of terminations – 6,455 – were carried out in early pregnancies of less than 12 weeks, according to the notification report.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/slight-decrease-in-the-number-of-abortions-carried-out-in-ireland-last-year-report-shows-1.4607044


N. Ireland – Free, safe, legal, local

Emma Campbell describes the long fight for reproductive rights in Northern Ireland

March 24, 2021
Emma Campbell

Northern Ireland has finally emerged from the shadow of a British law that wreaked untold misery on the island of Ireland. On 22 October 2019, tired but buoyed, we celebrated that people were no longer at risk of being charged with a criminal offence for accessing an abortion. After a long struggle, the women of Northern Ireland now have the best abortion law in the UK and Ireland.

Sections 58 and 59 of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act criminalised doctors and abortion seekers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland with punishment up to ‘penal servitude for life’. This remained in place until the 1967 Abortion Act allowed abortion to carried out legally in certain circumstances, even if it wasn’t fully decriminalised.

Continued: https://www.redpepper.org.uk/alliance-for-change/