“When abortion rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”: Why we stood up for choice

By Ellioté Long, Abortion Rights Executive Committee member

On Saturday 2nd September hundreds of pro-choice demonstrators came together to oppose the so-called ‘March for Life’ in London.

We started the day with a rally and speeches from abortion rights campaigners, trade union representatives, and health workers. We even had a heartfelt speech from the legendary Ann Rossiter, a stalwart of the abortion rights movement for decades. 

Then, the hardcore ‘antis’ brought their gruesome placards and chants to Parliament Square. We stood firm and did our best to drown them out with shouts of “When abortion rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

During the rally and in conversations on the sidelines I was struck by all the different reasons why people had turned out for abortion rights. 

Kerry Abel, Judith Orr and many others spoke about the campaigns for decriminalisation of abortion in England, Scotland and Wales. In the last eight months, four women have been prosecuted for allegedly procuring their own abortions. 

The 1967 Abortion Act did not decriminalise abortion: abortion is still a crime under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act in England and Wales and under common law in Scotland. 

At the rally, we heard about the devastating impact that criminalisation has on the women charged and how it stigmatises abortion. The antis have been emboldened by the recent spate of prosecutions, and by events in the US since the fall of Roe v. Wade. Many of us were there to call for decriminalisation and to rally against complacency as the tide of criminalisation creeps up in Britain. 

Abortion access is a working-class issue and a trade union issue — this was a common thread throughout the rally and it came up a lot as I talked with fellow demonstrators. 

Trade unions are a vital part of the pro-choice movement in this country and key supporters of Abortion Rights. Representatives and members from Unison, NEU, RCN, Unite, and IWGB, among others, joined the demonstration because we know that abortion restrictions hit working-class people the hardest. 

Anti-fascists and trans-rights activists also turned out in full force. 

As Mara Clarke (Co-founder of EU abortion charity SAFE) highlighted, the abortion rights movement and the movement for trans lives have a common cause: bodily autonomy for all. It seems we also have common enemies as many of the far-right groups who have been attacking a pub’s drag story hour in Honour Oak were well represented at Saturday’s March for Life. 

It is frightening to see the far right brazenly spreading their hate but I was heartened to see allied movements come together to show that they are not welcome on our streets. 

Like many others, I left Westminster feeling hoarse, tired and probably a bit sunburnt. But most of all I felt invigorated. We did not sit quietly and let far-right and anti-choice demonstrations go on without a fight. 

Our counter-demonstration was powerful because we were all there for different reasons and we came together to oppose anti-abortion hate.