This should worry you: Reform UK and abortion rights in Britain

We think this is settled. It isn’t.

There’s this assumption in British politics that abortion rights are settled.

That whatever is happening in the US couldn’t really happen here. That it’s a different political culture, a different system, a different kind of debate.

But that assumption is starting to look shaky.

Because people like Lois McLatchie Miller are now standing for office in the UK — and that’s not something you can just brush off.

This didn’t come out of nowhere

She previously worked for the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a US-based legal organisation that’s spent years campaigning against abortion rights and backing legal efforts to restrict access internationally.

ADF has been linked to the wider legal movement behind the overturning of Roe v. Wade and has expanded its work into Europe.

You can read more here:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/25/us-christian-right-roe-v-wade-abortion
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/alliance-defending-freedom-europe-abortion-rights/

This is part of a much bigger, well-organised ideological network that’s been working on attacking abortion rights for a long time.

And now someone from that world is standing as a Reform UK candidate in London.

The views are clear

Her position isn’t subtle.

She’s opposed abortion in all circumstances and has campaigned against safe access zones — the protections designed to stop women being harassed outside clinics.

Those buffer zones were introduced because of documented harassment outside clinics.

Reporting here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-63977924

That already puts her well outside the mainstream of UK politics.

“It’s just one candidate” — it never is

This is the point where people usually say: so what?

But it’s never just one candidate.

Political parties choose who represents them. And Reform UK has chosen to platform someone with clear, hardline anti-abortion views. That tells you something — even if the party isn’t shouting about it yet.

There are other signals too.

Nigel Farage has suggested the UK’s 24-week abortion limit is too high in past interviews and coverage.

You can follow broader UK political coverage here:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics

This is how things shift

None of this means abortion rights are about to disappear overnight.

But that’s not how it works.

If you look at the US, it didn’t start with sweeping bans. It built over time — through legal strategy, political influence, and incremental change.

By the time Roe v. Wade was overturned, the groundwork had been laid for years.

Coverage here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61928898

The UK isn’t the US. But the idea that we’re immune to the same kind of shift doesn’t really hold up.

The law isn’t untouchable

In Britain, abortion law isn’t based on something permanent.

It comes from the Abortion Act 1967 and later amendments — and it still technically sits within criminal law under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

That means it can be changed.

And that’s the part people don’t always take seriously enough.

This isn’t hypothetical

You can already see the edges of it.

Debates over buffer zones.
Increasing visibility of anti-abortion campaigning.
Candidates with positions that would have been politically marginal not that long ago.

This isn’t happening in the background. It’s happening openly.