Abortion Rights

Abortion debate scheduled for Tuesday

Conservative backbench MP, Nadine Dorries, has tabled an adjournment debate on the subject of abortion which is due to take place on Tuesday (02.11.10). The debate entitled “Government policy on the information provided to women prior to a request for a termination of pregnancy” is likely to begin at around 10pm at the close of the day’s parliamentary business and will last around half an hour. Ms Dorries will speak, a government minister will reply and backbench MPs will have the opportunity to discuss the issue, but there will be no vote.

The debate has been spurred by the publication of a poll sponsored by anti-choice group Christian Concern for our Nation. As we reported last week, this organisation has engaged in a number of publicity stunts, seeking to mark Wednesday’s 43rd anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act, including laying 572 plastic foetuses outside Parliament representing, according to Christian Concern, the number of abortions taking place each day.

The poll, carried out by ComRes, found support for “a woman’s right, enshrined in law, to be informed of all the physical, psychological and emotional risks associated with abortion”, and it is this finding that Dorries wishes to highlight in the debate.

As our supporters will know, Abortion Rights supports women receiving all necessary information on all aspects of their reproductive health. Medical practitioners are already obliged to provide this information to women, as they are with any other medical procedure.

However, this poll finding will be used by anti-choice activists to promote the provision of exaggerated, directive and misleading information to women. Similar measures, which have become law in parts of the United States, have resulted in women being told that abortion will give them breast cancer and receiving other grossly inaccurate medical information.

Abortion is one of the safest, most common medical procedures and measures which amount to mandatory counselling over and above that which received for far more complex and high-risk medical procedures simply stigmatises abortion and creates further delays and barriers to access.

We would encourage supporters to contact pro-choice MPs to ask them to attend the debate and voice their opposition to any further restrictions to women’s right to access abortion services.

Anniversary of the Abortion Act: cause for celebration and renewed activism

October 27, 2010 is the 43rd anniversary of the UK’s groundbreaking Abortion Act, which finally made abortion a safe, legal option for most British women.

Recognised as a victory for women’s rights, the 1967 Abortion Act made way for one of this century’s most important advances in public health, saving the lives of countless women and providing them with reproductive freedom and the ability to make their own choices about their fertility.

However, the stigma and culture of silence surrounding abortion lends credence to much of the misinformation disseminated about the topic today. Consistently, three-quarters of British people support a right to choose and it is one of the most common medical procedures performed in this country. But the public, especially young people are unaware of how vital choice is to guaranteeing fundamental human rights in the UK. Indeed, for many students, the only information they receive about abortion in schools is highly subjective and provided by well-funded anti-choice organisations.

Closure of the Women’s National Commission

On 14th October the government announced plans to close the Women’s National Commission (WNC) as part of its cost-cutting drive to reduce and streamline quangos.

Since its establishment in 1969, the WNC has provided an independent voice of women in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to Ministers on a wide range of gender equality issues.

It has played a vital role in defending and promoting women’s reproductive choice, particularly regarding government obligations around the Convention to Eliminate all forms of Discrimination Against Women. Abortion Rights, as one of the WNC’s 670 partner organisations greatly regrets the planned closure.

Australian couple acquitted in illegal abortion trial

A young couple facing imprisonment in Queensland for illegally obtaining an abortion were acquitted this week (15.10.10) in a court case which has put Australia’s abortion laws under the spotlight.

The couple, Tegan Leach, 21, and Sergie Brennan, 22, were arrested in when police found empty packets of RU486 and misoprostol, drugs used in the termination of pregnancy, while searching their home on an unrelated matter.

The couple were prosecuted under a section of the criminal code entitled 'Offences against morality' which dates from 1899. Leach was charged with procuring her own miscarriage and faced up to 7 years in jail while Brennan faced three years for supplying the drugs.

Claire Rayner OBE, 1931 - 2010

As many of you will heard, Claire Rayner passed away recently at the age of 79. Known to all as a writer, campaigner and agony aunt, among the many causes she championed was a woman’s right to safe, legal abortion.

It was a subject close to her heart: as a young nurse in London in the 1950s she had witnessed the tragic consequences of backstreet abortion, and in her work as an agony aunt she regularly witnessed the distress of women facing unwanted pregnancies.

Her willingness to address unplanned pregnancy and abortion directly in the media, as well as sexual relationships and contraception, did a huge amount to destigmatise these issues among the general population, as did the straightforward, humane manner in which she approached sensitive topics.

As a pro-choice activist she supported the work of Abortion Rights, and its predecessor, the National Abortion Campaign. Her contribution to the pro-choice movement in the United Kingdom is hugely appreciated and the loss of one of our most eloquent and powerful advocates is deeply felt.

Disappointment as Council of Europe rejects calls to regulate conscientious objection

On Thursday (07.10.10) the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) undercut a resolution intended to regulate the use of conscientious objection by reproductive healthcare providers. The resolution did not pass as proposed and its provisions were severely diluted by a number of harmful anti-abortion amendments.

"It is truly a dismal day in Europe when the lives and health of women take a back seat to political agendas and ideological imperatives," said Christina Zampas, regional manager and senior legal adviser for Europe at the Center for Reproductive Rights. "Today's disappointing vote shows the growing political power of the anti-choice movement among both governments and civil society, as well as a lack of political commitment to women's reproductive health by ostensibly pro-choice politicians."

Self-induced abortions on the rise in America

It has been well documented that reproductive health advocates struggled with the passage of health care reform in the United States earlier this year. Health reform may have signalled a relief for millions of uninsured Americans, but the victory came at the expense of essential abortion provisions for some of the country’s most vulnerable groups.
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Comments on abortion on Sunday Morning Live: Abortion Rights responds

The religious discussion programme Sunday Morning Live shown on BBC One on 3rd October included a section entitled ‘Can abortion be a kindness?’ in which programme guest Virginia Ironside presented her views on the desirability of abortion in cases where a child is likely to be born severely disabled or into a ‘disavantaged’ household.

In the subsequent debate, which included well-known anti-choice activist Rev. Joanna Jepson, discussion focused on the morality of abortion to prevent suffering amongst potentially disabled children, and included some highly controversial comments from Virginia Ironside, which have drawn media attention since the show was aired.

Latin America: women fight for abortion rights

In Latin America, it is estimated that more than four million illegal abortions are carried out each year and that 13 percent of maternal deaths are caused by abortion-related complications.

Women from across the continent have long been engaged in the struggle for reproductive choice. Since 1990, September 28 has been marked as the Day for the Decriminalisation of Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean, and this year news emerging from the region is particularly encouraging:

Argentine activists demand legalisation of abortion

Since the passage of same-sex marriage legislation this summer, the political and social climate in Argentina has led women’s groups to increase pressure on lawmakers to decriminalise abortion.

On Tuesday September 28, the Day for the Decriminalisation of Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1,000 members of the Juana Azuduy Women’s Collective (“Las Juanas”), filed a "collective and preventive" writ of habeas corpus at courtrooms across the country, demanding the criminalisation of abortion be declared unconstitutional.

Gabriela Sosa, head of the Santa Fe Las Juanas, told IPS, "We chose the habeas corpus route because it protects people's freedom, and we are thus asking the courts, in a preventive manner, to protect us if we become pregnant and want to interrupt the pregnancy."

Nicaraguan women seek to restore legal abortion

On Tuesday 5th October, a group of women delivered a petition with over 37,000 signatures demanding the restoration of therapeutic abortion in Nicaragua.

The signatures were collected in Europe by Amnesty International and were handed over along with a sample of 6,000 postcards sent in by AI activists acting in solidarity with the Central American country.

In Latin America, abortion is only legal in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico City. With the exception of Chile, El Salvador and Nicaragua, where abortion is illegal under any circumstances, in the rest of the countries in the region "therapeutic" abortion is legal in certain cases, such as rape, incest, fetal malformation or risk to the mother's life.

Marie Stopes TV ad complaints rejected

In a media victory for pro-choice campaigners, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has rejected public complaints against Marie Stopes’ landmark “Are you late?” television advert.

The advertising watchdog received more than a thousand complaints, plus over 3000 postcards from a protest campaign organised by the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, about the country’s first ever abortion services commercial, which ran for just four weeks in May and June.

The advertisement in question directed women facing possible pregnancy to Marie Stopes International’s 24-hour helpline.

Despite drawing the seventh highest number of complaints to its agency, the ASA acknowledged that the issue of abortion is controversial, but said the commercial did not advocate any particular choice or course of action over another and did not even mention abortion.

Speaking to the BBC, the ASA said, “We understood that post-conception decisions could be very difficult, but considered the ad dealt with the issue of possible pregnancy in an understated way and was not sensationalist.”

Marie Stopes said it received an “overwhelmingly positive” response to the ad, with the advice line taking significantly more calls from women and health professionals who expressed gratitude for the support.

Read the ASA's adjudication on the the advert here.

Academies Act threatens sex education in UK schools

The recently passed Academies Act is set to fundamentally alter education in the UK and risks increasing the influence of anti-choice groups in British schools.

Rushed through parliament and passed into law on July 27, the flagship Conservative bill allows controversial academies and “free schools” to escape from the control of their local authority, giving them unprecedented latitude to include extreme religious and anti-choice views in their curricula.

Abortion Rights to contribute to G8 maternal health consultation (you can, too!)

After declaring reproductive, maternal and newborn health as “the most off-track of all the Millennium Development Goals,” Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell has announced the launch of a public consultation process to guide the government’s development efforts.

Abortion Rights will be submitting evidence to the consultation exercise - entitled “Choice for women – wanted pregnancies, safe births,” along with other key stakeholders including charities, health and development professionals, and the public, and we are encouraging our supporters to contribute their views too.

The G8 Summit: abortion excluded from from policy goals

The results of the G8 summit of world leaders which took place in Canada last month have been released, with a mixed outcome for reproductive rights advocates.

The summit report - the Muskoka Initiative for Maternal and Child Health – details a five-year, $7.3 billion package for improving maternal, newborn and child health and increasing access to reproductive health services. G8 countries have pledged US $5 billion of new money over the next 5 years and an additional $2.3 billion has been committed by non-G8 member states and foundations, but the Initiative omits any mention of abortion services.

Irish anti-choice groups offer rogue ‘Pregnancy Crisis Services’

Further alarming evidence has emerged this month about the tactics used by anti-choice groups claiming to provide counselling to women facing unplanned pregnancy.

The Crisis Pregnancy Programme run by the Health Services Executive in the Republic of Ireland has received 67 complaints over a nine month period about agencies trying to influence women’s decisions about their pregnancies.

Several women who approached these agencies for advice on their options reported feeling distressed by the counselling techniques used. State-funded pregnancy counselling services are now warning women to avoid ‘unreliable’ counselling services and have called on the Irish government to step in and regulate their activities.

Northern Ireland: gynaecologists support liberalising abortion laws

A majority of gynaecologists in Northern Ireland do not support the abortion law as it stands, a new academic survey has shown. The research, conducted at Middlesex University, involved interviews with 37 out of the 42 practising gynaecologists in Northern Ireland, and revealed that 57% support liberalising current abortion law in the province, with many willing to carry out abortion under certain circumstances.

Development Secretary highlights unsafe abortion; calls to empower women in international agenda

The new International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell addressed abortion and maternal health in his first overseas speech in Washington this week, citing death rates from unsafe abortions, and promising that Britain will place women at the hearth of the international development agenda.
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New review supports current abortion term limits; finds no evidence of foetal pain before 24 weeks.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) released new guidelines this week, finding that foetuses cannot feel pain in the womb before 24 weeks. The evidence strikes a blow to anti-choice campaigners who wish to reduce abortion term limits on the grounds of foetal pain, offering fresh evidence that current term limits remain scientifically sound.
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Pharmacists' standards - the right to opt-out?

Abortion Rights has recently contributed to a consultation on Standards of Conduct and Ethics by the General Pharmaceutical Council – the industry regulator for pharmacy professionals. Our submission concerns the guidelines allowing pharmacists to ‘opt-out’ of providing medication because of their personal beliefs, which could potentially result in women being denied access to the ‘morning after pill’.