UK – Abortion prosecutions are never in the public interest, says royal college

New guidance to say health staff should not report women suspected of illegally ending pregnancies to police

Harriet Sherwood
Mon 22 Jan 2024

Doctors and other healthcare staff should not report suspected illegal abortions to the police as prosecutions are never in the public interest, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has said.

In an intervention on Monday that will trigger further debate on the decriminalisation of abortion, Dr Ranee Thakar, the president of the professional body, said “outdated and antiquated” abortion laws meant women were left vulnerable to criminal investigation.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/22/illegal-abortions-prosecutions-uk-police-royal-college

22.01.2024

News

Bethany Cox

British Society of Abortion Care Providers

Carla Foster

Dr Jonathan Lord

Dr Ranee Thakar

Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Society for the Protection of Unborn Children

UK – Senior Tory MP seeks abortion law rethink after mother jailed

June 13, 2023
By Jasmine Andersson & Sean Seddon, BBC News

Parliament should debate overhauling abortion rules after a woman was jailed, the chair of the Commons equalities committee has said. Caroline Nokes MP told the BBC the 1861 law used to prosecute mother-of-three Carla Foster was "out of date".

The 44-year-old was convicted of inducing an abortion outside the legal limit using pills at home. Campaigners urged reform after she received a sentence of 28 months, 14 of which will be spent in custody.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65886472

UK – Alleged profitable ‘abortion industry’ is a dangerous myth

Despite claims from opponents, no one is profiting from an ‘abortion industry’ in the UK, writes Gemma Clark

By Gemma Clark
December 27, 2022

The overturning of Roe v Wade in America (which ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion) has had a ripple effect across the world.

Anti-abortionists have become emboldened, and abortion rights activists are working harder than ever to safeguard reproductive rights.

Continued: https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/opinion/5203114/buffer-zone-scotland-abortion-industry-myth-opinion/

Abortion: Legal challenge begins over NI abortion law

Nov 8, 2022
By Jayne McCormack, BBC News NI political correspondent

A challenge to the government's legal authority to establish abortion services in Northern Ireland is under way in the Court of Appeal.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (Spuc) argues it should be for Stormont politicians to decide on the issue.

In February, the High Court rejected its challenge, upholding steps taken by former NI Secretary Brandon Lewis.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-63556861

08.11.2022

Society for the Protection of Unborn Children

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

US Donors Are Helping Push Anti-Abortion Agendas in British Schools

A British anti-abortion group that gives talks in schools has received over £72,000 from the US over the last 2 years, VICE World News can reveal.

By Sophia Smith Galer
May 30, 2022

An anti-abortion group in the UK that gives talks to schoolchildren and medical professionals about what it terms “coerced abortion” is receiving tens of thousands of dollars from anonymous US-based backers, VICE World News can reveal.

Nearly £73,000 ($91,885, €85,330) has been donated anonymously via a donor agency called NPT Transatlantic in the past two years to the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child’s (SPUC) registered charity, one of the UK’s most active anti-abortion groups. The agency allows US and UK taxpayers to donate to organisations across the Atlantic without revealing their name and without qualifying for any tax deduction.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en/article/93be83/anti-abortion-schools-uk

Scotland fights to end abortion ‘harassment’

Online News Editor
May 28, 2022

Edinburgh, UK, May 28 (EFE).- Protesters took to the streets of Edinburgh on Saturday to demand a stop to rallies in front of abortion clinics, considered a form of harassment and intimidation.

“They want to control women,” a protester and lecturer at Edinburgh University, Betinna Nissen, told Efe.

Scotland is considering introducing a new law that prohibits anti-abortion protests in front of clinics which could make an already difficult choice an every harder one for women getting an abortion.

Continued: https://www.laprensalatina.com/scotland-fights-to-end-abortion-harassment/

Women who underwent abortions face “trauma” as protests continue in Scotland

Women who went through abortions have told how "inescapable" and "damaging" anti-abortion protests are as Scotland sees an increase in protests outside clinics and hospitals.

By Hannah Brown
Sunday, 1st May 2022

Megan Braithwaite, 39, had an abortion for medical reasons in Edinburgh eight years ago. It was her first pregnancy and both her and her husband were trying for a baby.

"It was at the 20-week screening when we found out that the baby had a fetal anomaly and it was truly awful”, she said.

Continued: https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/women-who-underwent-abortions-face-trauma-as-protests-continue-in-scotland-3676260

MPs vote to continue abortion ‘pills by post’ scheme in England

Government will be forced to abandon its plan to end a two-year trial of the scheme in August

Denis Campbell Health policy editor
Wed 30 Mar 2022

Women in England will be able to access a “pills by post” abortion service indefinitely after MPs voted today to compel ministers to make it permanent instead of scrapping the scheme in September.

The decision will benefit tens of thousands of women every year who want to take the two tablets needed to end a pregnancy in the privacy of their own home rather than having to take the first at a clinic or hospital. They have to be taken within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/30/mps-vote-to-continue-abortion-pills-by-post-scheme-in-england

NI secretary can direct establishment of abortion services, judge rules

Anti-abortion group claimed only elected representatives in North should decide on issue

Tue, Feb 8, 2022,
Alan Erwin

The Northern Ireland secretary has the legal authority to direct the establishment of abortion services in the region, a judge as ruled at Belfast High Court.

Mr Justice Colton rejected a challenge by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) to Brandon Lewis’ powers to impose a deadline on Stormont for putting in place a centralised system.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/ni-secretary-can-direct-establishment-of-abortion-services-judge-rules-1.4796919

08.02.2022