Abortion is becoming a new front in Reform UK’s culture war

Following abortion decriminalisation, analysis from openDemocracy and the Fuller Project reveals the UK far right is pushing anti-abortion talking points into mainstream political debate.

By Sian Norris
May 20, 2026

Data analysed by The Fuller Project and openDemocracy reveal that British far-right political parties and influencers – including Reform UK – are taking inspiration from the United States and seeking to turn abortion into a new front in the culture wars.

At a time when Nigel Farage’s party has made sweeping gains in the local elections, our analysis of almost 80 Reform, Reform-supporting, and far-right X accounts found that between April 2024 and April 2026, mentions of abortion increased by 40% compared to the previous two years. This is despite a new law coming into force at the end of April 2026 which prevents women in England and Wales from facing a criminal investigation for having an abortion, and despite high public support for abortion across the UK.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/aabortion-reform-uk-politics-birth-decriminalization-farage/

Supreme Court allows abortion pill to remain available by mail nationwide

The decision indefinitely blocks an appeals court ruling that would have restricted availability of the drug, especially in states with strict anti-abortion laws.

May 14, 2026
By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ensured Thursday that the abortion pill mifepristone can continue to be available by mail without an in-person appointment with a clinician.

A ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 1 had imperiled widespread access to the pill. Now, the Supreme Court has granted emergency requests brought by drugmakers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro seeking to block that ruling.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-allows-abortion-pill-mifepristone-available-mail-rcna344081

USA – A Right-Wing Court Just Moved to Choke Off Abortion by Mail

A sweeping decision threatens to unravel one of the most important pathways to care post-Dobbs.

Nina Martin, Mother Jones
May 1, 2026

A federal appeals court packed with conservatives has handed abortion opponents a major victory against the US Food and Drug Administration, reinstating an in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion medication mifepristone and shutting down telemedicine providers—at least temporarily—from prescribing the abortion pill across the US.

In a 3-0 order issued Friday afternoon, the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals granted Louisiana’s request for an injunction against FDA rule changes from 2023 that have allowed blue-state telehealth providers to send mifepristone to thousands of patients every month in states where abortion is banned. Abortion pills now account for almost two-thirds of abortions nationwide.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/05/a-right-wing-court-just-moved-to-choke-off-abortion-by-mail/

Supreme Court sides with anti-abortion center raising First Amendment fears about state probe

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST
April 29, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with a faith-based pregnancy center that raised First Amendment concerns about an investigation into whether it misled people to discourage abortions.

The high court’s unanimous ruling is a procedural victory for First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, which is challenging a New Jersey investigation of its practices.
The conservative-majority court has given abortion opponents high-profile wins in recent years, most notably the watershed case that overturned the nationwide right to abortion in 2022. First Choice, though, had also drawn support from the American Civil Liberties Union, which supports abortion rights but backed the group’s First Amendment concerns.

Continued: https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-abortion-opponents-appeal-new-jersey-57709656fc444ed125165227d985705f

Scotland – Leading anti-abortion figure standing for Reform UK in May elections

April 13, 2026
By Steph Brawn

A WARNING that reproductive rights "are not safe" with Reform UK has been issued after it emerged a leading anti-abortion figure is standing for the party in England's local elections. Lois McLatchie Miller is standing for Nigel Farage's party in the affluent London area of Maida Vale next month.

McLatchie Miller has worked for years for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) – a Christian group known for its work overturning abortion rights in the US as well as opposing LGBT+ rights – and has made regular appearances on GB News and Talk TV.

Continued: https://archive.is/Eo0Mq
(https://www.thenational.scot/news/26017330.leading-anti-abortion-figure-standing-reform-uk-may-elections/)

13.04.2026

News

Alliance Defending Freedom

buffer zone laws

Gillian Mackay

Lois McLatchie Miller

Nigel Farage

Reform UK

safe access zones

Southern Poverty Law Center

Anti-abortion group active in Scotland withholds size of US funding

Apr 3, 2025
By James Walker

AN anti-abortion group active in Scotland has withheld details about the amount of US funding it receives.

The National previously revealed that ADF International – one of several groups which has actively looked to challenge Scotland’s abortion buffer zones legislation – received £1,119,975 in 2024 from its US parent entity Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), according to Companies House.

This represented a 281% increase in just two years, as it received £398,000 in 2022. Now, in newly published accounts, the organisation reveals that it has received £1,409,342 in total in 2025 – a hefty increase of over £150k.

Continued: https://archive.is/MAKTm
(https://www.thenational.scot/news/25992604.anti-abortion-group-active-scotland-withholds-size-us-funding/)

03.04.2026

News

ADF International

Alliance Defending Freedom

buffer zone law

Gillian Mackay

safe access zones

Southern Poverty Law Center

Europe

Scotland

Anti-choice

USA – This Confusing Supreme Court Case Could Reshape Oversight of Crisis Pregnancy Centers

New Jersey’s broad subpoena against an anti-abortion chain has made for some strange bedfellows.

Nina Martin, Mother Jones
Dec 1, 2025

Even if you have no idea what a crisis pregnancy center is, the donor website for the First Choice Women’s Resource Centers chain in northeastern New Jersey offers plenty of clues: Prominent logos for the anti-abortion groups Heartbeat International and CareNet. A home page banner proclaiming “Sanctity of Human Life Sunday 2026.” An agreement for prospective volunteers that states, “I openly acknowledge my personal faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior,” and “[I] reject abortion as an acceptable option for any woman.”

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/12/this-confusing-supreme-court-case-could-reshape-oversight-of-crisis-pregnancy-centers/

Inside the right-wing push against abortion rights in Scotland

Nov 30, 2025
By James Walker

A RECENT review of Scotland's abortion laws led to widespread right-wing outrage last week. One clip that went particularly viral was a GB News segment featuring Lois McLatchie Miller, who works for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

“The Scottish Government have commissioned a report to suggest that they allow abortion all the way up to birth for most social reasons,” she told the broadcaster’s presenters.

Continued: https://archive.is/lcmwa
(https://www.thenational.scot/news/25659692.inside-right-wing-push-abortion-rights-scotland/)

Is British politics immune to US-style rightwing Christianity? We’re about to find out

Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson are increasingly espousing Christian ‘values’, and a wealthy US legal group is becoming influential – this could have dire consequences

Lamorna Ash
Tue 25 Nov 2025

Earlier this year, not long after Tommy Robinson embraced evangelical Christianity while in prison, the then Conservative MP Danny Kruger spoke in parliament about the need for a restoration of Britain through the “recovery of a Christian politics”. Less than two months later, Kruger joined Reform, and shortly after that, James Orr, a vociferously conservative theologian who has been described as JD Vance’s “English philosopher king”, was appointed as one of Reform’s senior advisers. The party’s leader, Nigel Farage, now frequently invokes the need for a return to “Judeo-Christian” values.

The British right is increasingly invoking the Christian tradition: the question is what it hopes to gain from doing so.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2025/nov/25/british-politics-us-rightwing-christianity-nigel-farage-tommy-robinson-adf

The worrying rise of US anti-abortion rhetoric is in full force – how deep is Reform UK’s involvement?

Money is pouring into anti-abortion campaigns in Britain, and it seems Nigel Farage’s party isn’t pushing back…

By Jennifer Savin
20 November 2025

There’s been a lot of talk recently suggesting that we need to keep a close eye on abortion rights here in the UK. With whisperings that what happened in America – the toppling of Roe v Wade, which left a 10-year-old denied an abortion – could happen here, especially if Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party makes it into power at the next election.

While nothing is guaranteed, it’s a scary thought – particularly as we made great strides with abortion care this year.

Continued: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a69468983/reform-uk-nigel-farage-abortion/