CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF SAFE, LEGAL ABORTION IN BRITAIN

RMTnews :: october 2007 :: www.rmt.org.uk 24 T his year marks the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act – a piece of legislation which has saved the lives and health of hundreds of thousands of women and to this day remains fundamental to women’s autonomy, equality and freedom. However, as we celebrate 40 years of safe, legal abortion in Britain the issue continues to be surrounded by a veil of secrecy and misinformation and myths on abortion abound. Abortion, we are told, is available on request. This is not so - women need the agreement of two doctors before they can access the procedure and many face delays of up to six weeks. But it is the 24-week time limit that continues to dominate the debate on abortion. The publication three years ago of 4 D-scan pictures of fetuses in the womb sparked off a heated media debate about the later abortion driven by the anti- choice lobby in the hope of gaining support for a reduction of the time limit. In reality, almost 90 per cent of abortions are carried out at under-13 weeks gestation whilst only a tiny proportion – less that one per cent – take place after 22 weeks. The women who need to access later abortion do so for compelling, exceptional and complex reasons. Gradually media misinformation and hysteria has found its way to Westminster. Over the last few months we have witnessed several attempts by anti-choice MPs to raise to profile of the issue in parliament. October 2006 saw the defeat (187 – 108 votes) of ‘Abortion time limit and delay’ Bill, which aimed to reduce the abortion time limit from 24 to 21 weeks and introduce a 10-day ‘cooling off period’. The ‘Parental notification’ Bill introduced in March 2007 which sought to end confidentiality for young women seeking abortion and other sexual health care was also sunk (159 – 87 votes), as was the ‘Compulsory counselling and delay’ Bill (182 – 107 votes). But the assault goes on. In May, the anti-choice lobby signalled its plans to launch the strongest attack on women’s legal rights since 1990 by proposing amendments to the government’s Human Tissue and Embryos (HTE) Bill. These must face strong opposition. CAMPAIGN Abortion Rights has launched its ‘pro-choice majority’ campaign calling for: • Women, not doctors, to make the abortion decision • An end to waiting times of longer than three weeks • An end to attacks on current rights, including the upper time limit 40 years since abortion was legalised, it is time for a law that trusts women to make their own decision about whether or not to continue a pregnancy. Or in the words of Lord David Steel, architect of the 1967 Act: ‘‘With the expectation that legislation on abortion will again be raised in the next session of parliament, it is essential that we use the opportunity not only to resist regressive amendments but to make it easier for women who need to obtain terminations to do so as early as possible in their pregnancies’. The time has come to move forward on women’s rights – not back. Take action to protect women’s crucial abortion rights! • Affiliate your branch or region to Abortion Rights – together we are stronger! • Join as an individual member • Sign up to Abortion Rights’ Action Alerts: www.abortionrights.org.uk • Add your voice to the pro- choice majority: www.prochoicemajority.org.uk • Get involved in the Pro- Choice Week of Action 20 - 27 October CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF SAFE, LEGAL ABORTION IN BRITAIN