Press Release: 100 Years & Still Marching

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Abortion Rights has called a peaceful ‘March for Choice’ in opposition to the ‘March For Life’ 5th of May, Houses of Parliament. 

Another year another landmark anniversary of women’s liberation. Today marks 100 years since the passing of the Representation of the People Act where some women were given the right to vote for the first time.

In 2017 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the vote and enactment of safe, legal abortion in Britain.The passage of the 1967 Abortion Act saved the lives and health of thousands of women and to this day remains fundamental to women’s autonomy and equality.

As we prepare to remember the actions of the suffragettes and celebrate their bravery and sacrifice, we’re reminded that the struggle for women’s equality still continues.

The anti-choice, US-inspired ‘March for Life’ have announced their 5th annual ‘Life fest’ will be held in London this year after Abortion Right & our supporters successfully kicked them out of Birmingham.

In 2018 women should be trusted to make their own decisions about their bodies. Women attempting to access a legal medical service must be able to do so without fear of harassment or intimidation.

It’s time for the UK’s pro-choice majority to say we’ve had enough of this kind of behaviour and to stand up for our right to safe, legal abortion.

Abortion Rights Chair, Kerry Abel said:
‘We see votes for women in 1918 and the Abortion Act in 1967 as the most significant legislation for women in the twentieth century. However there is still work to be done, people are still trying to block the right for us to control our own bodies.

‘March for Choice outside Parliament will be a positive platform in solidarity of women in Ireland and all of us who campaign for free, safe and legal abortion for all women, whether they are refugees, regardless of age or religion and accessible to rural women and those in cities.

Notes to Editors

Media contact for comment and interviews:  Kerry Abel, National Chair, Abortion Rights (07979 535242) 

• • Join Abortion Rights to ‘March for Choice’ May 5th, Parliament Square. 
  • Dr Pam Lowe’s research shows that a majority of clinic users considered anti-abortion actions outside clinics to be intrusive and emotionally onerous. She can be contacted on p.k.lowe@aston.ac.uk. The research report is at http://www.aston.ac.uk/EasySiteWeb/GatewayLink.aspx?alId=256682
  • SPUC (Society to protect the unborn child) is one of the organisations supporting ‘March for Life’. Members attacked a Birmingham primary school head over initiative to tackle homophobia https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/nov/11/primary-school-headteacher-attacked-fighting-homophobia
  • Jim Dowson from March for Life partner ‘Youth Defence’, was a member of the BNP & the “ideological guru” of  Britain First.
    http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/jim-dowson-laughs-off-tv-claims-he-is-the-evil-genius-of-british-fascism-30371992.html
  • Donald Trump gives ‘March for Life’ full support:
    http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/march-for-life-2017-trump-supports-234267
  • Mike Pence speaks at ‘March for Life’ rally, January 2017
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/27/march-for-life-washington-abortion-trump-reproductive-rights
  • Abortion is illegal in almost all circumstances in both the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland. Punishment is up to life in prison in Northern Ireland and 14 years in the Republic. There is no exception for rape or fatal foetal abnormality in either jurisdiction.
  • Women In Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland bear the burden of the barriers imposed by the State when they seek to access abortion services. The London Irish Abortion Rights Campaign seeks to highlight this, and to lobby governments in Westminster, Dublin and Stormont to change the law and support women’s rights.

  About Abortion Rights:

  • Abortion Rights is the national pro-choice campaign which seeks to defend and extend women’s rights and access to safe, legal abortion. We work closely with the parliamentary All Party Pro-choice and Sexual Health group and the Voice for Choice coalition of sexual health and education organisations.
  • Abortion Rights was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two long-standing and influential campaigns – the National Abortion Campaign (NAC) and the Abortion Law Reform Association (ALRA).
  • Abortion Rights are an active membership-based democratic campaigning organisation. In addition to individual members, we are delighted to have the support of NUS and civil society organisations as well as the TUC and national trade unions.