Abortion is common and unfortunately so is abortion stigma

It’s time to stamp abortion stigma out, and the first step starts treating like treated as any other medical procedure. The law ought to have no place in determining what should be a private decision, undertaken with sound medical advice. The different treatment afforded to abortion, in contrast to all other medical procedures, adds to the stigma surrounding termination.

Whilst It’s really important to note that there is a strong pro-choice majority in the UK, with 9 out ten people supporting a woman’s right to choose, It is too often a silence majority and history has taught us we can’t be complacent with our most essential rights.

The arrival of more subtle, selective arguments against abortion have allowed anti-antis to chip away at the edges of current debates, but the arguments are based on the same old premises: women have fewer rights than foetuses, and they cannot be trusted to make a decision that affects them most.

Anti-abortion Protesters must BACK OFF

In 2021, women accessing abortion in the UK should be entitled to safe and unobstructed access. Yet, this week The British pregnancy advisory service was forced to intervene and call out Edinburgh City Council for blocking abortion advice website searches.

Katherine O’Brien, associate director of campaigns at BPAS, said at the time: “Restricting access to abortion information will only add to the stigma that some women sadly still feel.”

Have you been shouted out, bullied, stalked & insulted on your way into the dentist or your GP’s office? I am going to take a punt and guess you answered no, so why have we normlised the harassment of women whilst trying to access abortion care?

There has been a marked increase of reported anti-choice activity such as clinic protests and harassment of service users and staff at clinics. This trend is particularly damaging, as these activists aren’t prepared to be engaged on the facts in Parliament or the media; instead, they make direct unsolicited contact with women seeking abortions.

Such groups use bullying tactics, including: displaying large, graphic and exaggerated images of ‘aborted foetuses’; invading personal space by blocking peoples’ paths and grabbing and touching them; and handing out medically inaccurate and misleading leaflets. This creates an atmosphere of intimidation and disrespects and disregards women’s personal medical choices and medical staff’s right to work free from harassment.

Holding the moral – highground

Yesterday, we called again out 40-Days of Life for co-opting Lent to shame women

Edem Barbara Ntumy, speaking for Christians for Choice: “Cloaking the targeting of abortion clinics as a Christian act during a period of religious reflection is deeply wrong. “

“The victimisation of any person accessing any other medical treatment would be publicly condemned, and so should the activity of these groups. Ultimately it is not with line with the Biblical meaning of Lent or indeed overarching Christian values”

Woman accessing abortion in the UK should be entitled to safe and unobstructed access. From the moment she makes her decision, every step of the way should be planned and managed as safely as any other medical procedure. To have to encounter barriers to access, harassment, and intimidation is clearly dangerous and unacceptable.

Telemedicine Abortion is the silver-lining of Pandemic

In a time of crisis, the Government acted itoneeded to ensure that women who require abortion healthcare can access this without putting themselves and healthcare professionals at risk.

Telemedicine for early medical abortions is a safe and effective practice – already recommended by expert bodies – with no clinical reason why, after the necessary consultation, both abortion pills can be prescribed, delivered and taken at home beyond the pandemic.

Covid-19 has enabled those most vulnerable in society to receive the care and access to abortion services they need. However, the telemedicine abortion provision will be removed once the threat of coronavirus has passed, and unless the Government acknowledges the systemic problems with our current abortion laws, victims of domestic violence will once again be forced in to continue pregnancies against their will or buying pills off the internet.

The pandemic shows there is no legitimate or medical reason to deny the use of telemedicine in abortion services going forward, so we must continue to campaign for permanent changes to the law that reflect the reality of abortion in 2020.

We can’t go back to criminalising people whilst simultaneously preventing them from being able to access the services they need, this why it’s vital telemedicine outlasts the pandemic.

ACT NOW TO PROTECT ACCESS – Westminster is currently consulting on telemedicine, read our guidance and have your say here

Fresh threat to Abortion In Northern Ireland

In 2019 July, MPs at Westminster voted to decriminalise abortion in Northern Ireland and create new laws.

The laws allow abortion in all circumstances up to 12 weeks. Terminations are permitted up to 24 weeks when there is a risk to the woman’s physical or mental health.

Now, a year on the DUP has proposed a new law to prevent abortions being carried out in NI in cases of non-fatal disabilities.

A private member’s bill brought by Paul Givan, in bid to repeal aspect of North’s abortion laws tabled at Stormont -backed by disability rights campaign group Don’t Screen Us Out, is seeking to overturn the law.

Thin Edge End of Wedge

Fatal foetal abnormalities have long been a wedge within the abortion debate, it’s vital that we don’t allow provocative headline distract us from the facts.

There is very little media coverage of the reasons why women request late abortions. Nor of the fact that fewer than two per cent of abortions are at 20 weeks and beyond, and that these involve some of the most vulnerable of all the women accessing abortions.

Very few abortions are carried out under Ground E and those taking place over 24 weeks are even less common, making up just 0.1% of total abortions.

These abortions take place under incredibly difficult circumstances for the prospective parents, as women and their partners find themselves suddenly having to make life-changing decisions about what the diagnosed condition means to them and their future. This Bill would actively harm people placed in this position.

Allowing the foetus to take centre stage in the debate obscures the fact that this kind of thinking, if instituted in law, would involve forcing women to have children they do not want. They would simply become vessels for a foetus. The viability argument implies that the foetus has rights, and that these can supersede those of the woman carrying it. Currently, the foetus has no rights under European law — the European Court of Human Rights has thrown out cases based on the ‘personhood’ of the foetus.

When women and their partners make the choice to access abortion after a diagnosis, they are not devaluing people living with disabilities. It is an individual decision made on the basis of a number of complex factors, relevant to the prospective parents involved.

It is also important to acknowledge the uncertainty that parents can face in this situation. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) have noted that the consequences of fetal anomalies are difficult to predict. Each diagnosis must be considered on a case-by-case basis, with parents allowed time to consider all options and seek specialist advice.

Furthermore, there is additional support and advice provided by charities such as Antenatal Results and Choices (ARC) and the Down’s Syndrome Association should women need it.

A reproductive justice approach advocates for an affirmative role for the government to play in ensuring that ALL women have the social, political, and economic power and resources to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. In the context of a prenatal diagnosis of disability, this means ensuring that women have the most accurate and comprehensive information possible, including realistic perspectives from individuals with the disability in question.

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