Abortion has been legal in Britain for almost 40 years and the right of a woman to make her own abortion decision is one that has majority support. Yet, few people are aware that under the 1967 Abortion Act, women actually do not have the ‘right to choose’; they need the permission of two doctors. No other medical procedure is subject to such restrictions.
But we can’t just work for improvements; we also have to protect what rights we have now in Britain and work to improve access internationally. On his first day in office, when George Bush reinstated the Global Gag Rule – a policy that slashes USAID funding to family planning clinics worldwide if they dare provide as much as abortion information - few people realised the pernicious impact this would have on the world’s poorest women. Every year, nearly 70,000 women die due to unsafe procedures; countless others are permanently injured.
Bush’s anti-choice crusade is also devastating abortion rights in the US – hundreds of pieces of legislation have been passed at state level restricting access, and worryingly, the drive to restrict abortion rights has not bypassed the UK. Here, as in the US, the anti-choice lobby has directed its venom on later abortion in the hope of gaining public support.
The fact is that almost 90 per cent of abortions are carried out at under 13 weeks gestation – 67 per cent at under 10 weeks. The tiny proportion of abortions – less than 1 per cent – that take place after 22 weeks are for compelling reasons. But the relentless misinformation and pseudo-science peddled by significant sections of the media is giving out a different picture, which is in danger of confusing public and parliamentary opinion.
In the past year there have been several attempts to “review” current legislation and push for a reduction in the time limit for abortion and the pressure continues. On 23 March, Nadine Dorries, Conservative MP for North Bedfordshire, was planning to re-introduce her ‘Termination of Pregnancy’ Bill – in spite of its crushing parliamentary defeat in October 2006 – which seeks to reduce the time limit to 20 weeks. Such attacks must be met with strong opposition.
And there’s no doubt there is strong public support for abortion rights. A MORI poll last November found that 63 per cent of voters support a woman’s right to end an unwanted pregnancy. The results are in line with previous studies, indicating a sustained majority support for the liberalisation of the abortion law.
For more information or to add your support visit www.abortionrights.org.uk
