PRESS RELEASE: Pro-choice photo call defends abortion against bigots

3/05/18

Abortion Rights urges the pro-choice majority to Stand Up For Choice

Suffragette styled pro-choice photocall at Millicent Fawcett statue in Parliament Square on Saturday 5 May to stand up to American-style March for Life festival gathering nearby.

Join pro-choice MPs, doctors, activists, Irish ‘Repeal’ campaigner and trade unionists at 1:30 pm for a photocall highlighting the real situation for women.

1 in 3 women have abortions, including 11 women a day traveling from Ireland and it’s being stigmatised by a small minority of right-wing zealots who want to ban all abortion.

We represent the pro-choice majority – 93% of the population support the right to choose (http://www.natcen.ac.uk/blog/british-attitudes-to-abortion)

Kerry Abel, Abortion Rights Chair said:

‘This is not a tricky moral dilemma, this is about having abortion as a choice. A medical provision that saves lives. Any measure that stigmatises abortion, blocks access or restricts provision is important to stand up to. That’s what we’re doing for the 1 in 3 women who will have an abortion and all the surveys show people agree.’

Stella Creasy MP said:

‘Denying women access to abortion means forcing them to continue an unwanted pregnancy – little wonder the UN has called the treatment of women in Northern Ireland by the UK as cruel because we force them to travel to the UK for this right. With hundreds already coming since the scheme opened last year to help them do this, there’s many more who can’t travel because of family or cost. With the anti-choice movement raising millions in Russia and America to plough into influencing access to abortion in Europe, no one can take for granted that these services will be protected- that’s why now more than ever before all of us who trust women to make choices about their own bodies must stand firm and must stand up for the rights of women at home and around the world.’  

Notes to Editors:

For more details contact Kerry Abel on 07979 535242

• Abortion Rights is the national pro-choice campaign, working to defend and extend abortion rights and provide a pro-choice voice to the media. We are supported by the TUC, National Union of Students amongst other prominent union groups
• 1 in 3 women in Britain will have an abortion in their life time and a consistent three quarters support the current legal right to abortion – it’s time the pro-choice majority was heard!
• Anyone who wishes to attend the pro-choice event can find more information on our Facebook pageor website.
• Since 1967 the Abortion Act has enabled women to access abortions in England, Wales and Scotland. One in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime.
• Use these stats for pro-choice majority http://www.natcen.ac.uk/blog/british-attitudes-to-abortion
• 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 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 Campaignseeks to highlight this, and to lobby governments in Westminster, Dublin and Stormont to change the law and support women’s 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