Champagne and cigars are just fine. It’s Thérèse Coffey’s views on abortion that worry me

Let’s not mock the health secretary for her socialising but pay attention to her politics

Catherine Bennett
10 Sep 2022

‘Tiz” and Liz. Elena Ferrante’s Lenù and Lila transplanted to Downham Market. It came as news to a lot of us that Truss’s premiership is also the latest chapter in her long friendship with Thérèse Coffey, whom she has just made deputy prime minister and health secretary.

Last week, their joint struggle – via marital drama, constituency revolt and other colourful setbacks – to escape the stultifying culture of student politics and seek fulfilment at the very top of the Conservative party culminated in a joyful series of interviews by the loyal deputy.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/10/liz-truss-gifted-bff-tiz-chance-harm-womens-rights-to-abortion

10.09.2022

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Therese Coffey’s views on abortion concerning, charity says

By Ione Wells, Political correspondent
Sept 7, 2022

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service has called the new health secretary's record on abortion rights "deeply concerning"

Therese Coffey, appointed by new PM Liz Truss, has previously voted against extending access to abortion care.

Abortion charities have accused Ms Coffey of putting her personal beliefs "above expert clinical guidance".

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-62805268

07.09.2022

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at-home abortion provision

Bpas

British Pregnancy Advisory Service

UK government honoured anti-abortion figure before editing women’s rights statement

Former US envoy given award at conference now engulfed in row over changes to reproductive rights pledges, while participant list revealed to have included members of group accused of hate speech

Lizzy Davies
Tue 9 Aug 2022

The British government presented a vehemently anti-abortion former US envoy with an award for his services to freedom of religion just days before watering down a statement on gender equality to remove commitments to reproductive rights.

Sam Brownback, a former governor of Kansas who targeted abortion rights while in office and then became Donald Trump’s ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, was given the award during the international ministerial conference for freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) held in London last month.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/aug/09/uk-government-award-anti-abortion-figure-sam-brownback-edited-reproductive-rights-statement

UK in diplomatic standoff over deletion of abortion rights from gender statement

Exclusive: Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands refuse to sign edited version, drawing up new phrasing including women and girls’ sexual and reproductive rights

Lizzy Davies
Thu 28 Jul 2022

The UK government is in a diplomatic standoff with three European countries over a statement on gender equality that it changed to remove commitments to women’s reproductive and sexual health rights.

Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands are refusing to sign the edited version unless their concerns “are taken into consideration”, a spokesperson for the Dutch foreign ministry told the Guardian on Thursday.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jul/28/uk-in-diplomatic-standoff-over-deletion-of-abortion-rights-from-gender-statement

UK – Senior Tory urges Liz Truss to explain deletion of abortion rights from statement

Exclusive: Equalities committee chair Caroline Nokes joins international outcry after UK dilutes commitment to women’s rights without consultation

Lizzy Davies
Wed 27 Jul 2022

A senior Conservative MP has asked the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, to explain why the UK government appeared to perform a “sudden backtracking on women’s rights” after commitments to abortion and sexual health rights were removed from an official multi-nation statement on gender equality.

Caroline Nokes, who chairs the women and equalities select committee, has written to Truss, who is also the minister for women and equalities and a Tory leadership contender, asking why the key phrases relating to reproductive rights were deleted.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jul/27/senior-tory-urges-liz-truss-to-explain-deletion-of-abortion-rights-from-statement-caroline-nokes

27.07.2022

UK under international pressure over deletion of abortion commitments

Exclusive: open letter sent to Liz Truss after removal of commitment to repeal laws threatening women and girls’ rights from global pact

Lizzy Davies
Fri 22 Jul 2022

The UK government is coming under growing pressure from European countries and human rights groups to explain why commitments to abortion and sexual health rights have been removed from an official statement on gender equality.

Norway and Denmark have approached the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) “to protest against the substantive changes” that were made to a paper that resulted from a UK-hosted conference on freedom of religion and belief, opened by Liz Truss earlier this month, the Guardian has learned.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jul/22/european-countries-pressurise-uk-over-removal-of-abortion-commitments-liz-truss

The UK’s Conservative Political Figures Linked to the US Anti-Abortion Drive

Numerous Conservative MPs, donors, and allies have spoken at and collaborated with Washington D.C. think tanks and organisations working to overturn the state-wide right to safe, legal abortion in the US

Sian Norris and Heidi Siegmund Cuda
24 August 2021

Leading Conservative MPs and their donors have close ties to think tanks, networks and foundations determined to roll-back abortion rights in the US, Byline Times can reveal.

Liz Truss, Sajid Javid, Dr Liam Fox, Daniel Hannan, and Owen Paterson all have links to the radical-right Heritage Foundation think tank which lobbies against abortion rights.

Continued: https://bylinetimes.com/2021/08/24/the-uks-conservative-political-figures-linked-to-the-us-anti-abortion-drive/