UK Edition
Women's charities call to end 'cruel' abortion laws in the UK
Women’s organisations are calling for an end to “cruel archaic” abortion laws that "prevent women from making decisions about their own bodies".
In existing UK law, abortion is still technically illegal and a woman can be sentenced to life imprisonment for ending her own pregnancy.
This has been the case since 1861, when the Offences Against the Person Act made self-induced abortion illegal.
The 1967 Abortion Act did not overturn this law – instead it made abortion legal if two doctors agreed a woman’s mental or physical health would suffer if she was forced to continue her pregnancy.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has now launched a campaign to finally decriminalise abortion in the UK so the procedure can be regulated in the same way as all other women’s healthcare.
Its We Trust Women campaign is being supported by a range of leading women’s organisations including Fawcett Society, Royal College of Midwives, End Violence Against Women Coalition, and Women’s Aid.
Ann Furedi, BPAS’ s chief executive, said: “One in three women will have an abortion in their lifetime in the UK. The ability to end a pregnancy has enabled women to live their lives in the way that they see fit and bear children at the time they think is right.
“It is high time we recognised this by taking abortion out of the criminal law, and making clear that we trust women to make their own decisions about their own lives and bodies.”
At the moment, women in the UK (apart from Northern Ireland) can have abortions with the consent of two doctors but this means women do not have control over their own bodies and could be prosecuted for having an abortion without this medical consent.
BPAS also said that the current law can delay women who are sure of their decision, and the threat of prosecution can put doctors off from training in this field and providing care.
“Today, even where the 1967 Act applies, women are compelled to continue pregnancies because they cannot find doctors willing or able to treat them,” states the charity.
The campaign is asking people to send an email letter to their local MP, MPS or MLA using a template on their site, calling for an official government inquiry into our abortion laws.
Countries such as Canada and Australia have already decriminalised abortion, and even countries such as Poland, where abortion is highly restricted, do not prosecute women for self-inducing abortion.
In Northern Ireland, two women are currently facing imprisonment under the 1861 Offences Against the Persons Act for buying abortion medication online - one for inducing her own abortion and a mother who wanted to help her daughter.
Last year a young mother from Durham was imprisoned for two-and-a-half-years for inducing a miscarriage in her third trimester using medication bought online.
Diane Munday, the former general secretary of the Abortion Law Reform Association (ALRA) in the 1960s, expressed her support for the campaign saying:
“If in 1967 - on the day I celebrated that parliament had put Britain in the vanguard for women’s reproductive rights - anybody had told me that nearly half a century later we would be lagging behind most of Europe I would have called them deluded. But they would have been right.
“In the past 50 years, technology and medicine have moved forward beyond belief, yet abortion remains hedged with the same red tape as it did in the 1960s.
“The anachronistic legal need for two doctors who know nothing about the pregnant woman, her life and her circumstances still stands. Jurisdictions including Canada and Australia have decriminalised abortion and the skies have not fallen in – and neither have rates of abortion risen.
“In 2016, it is time for Britain to catch up and to acknowledge that women know what is best for themselves and their families.”
A template of the letter BPAS are urging people to send to their local MPs:
Dear ***,
I am writing to ask you to support the We Trust Women campaign to decriminalise abortion and write on my behalf to the Women and Equalities Select Committee to request an inquiry into abortion law reform.
Under a Victorian law – passed before women could vote – abortion remains a crime in England and Wales. The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 means that a woman can face life imprisonment for ending her own pregnancy without the permission of two doctors. Across the UK, women face the harshest punishment for unlawful abortion imposed by any country in Europe, with the exception of the Republic of Ireland. No other medical procedure in this country is governed by legislation this old, and as out-of-step with modern thinking on both women’s rights and clinical developments.
The 1967 Abortion Act did not replace the OAPA or decriminalise abortion, but stipulated specific circumstances where women and their doctors would not be prosecuted. In 2016, it is time to take abortion out of the criminal law and regulate it like all other healthcare procedures.
Why we need to decriminalise abortion
• It is unacceptable that women across the UK are being prosecuted for ending a pregnancy. In December 2015, a young mother in Durham with a history of psychological problems was sent to prison for two-and-a-half years for inducing a miscarriage using pills bought online. While prosecutions are rare, the increasing availability of abortion medication online means more women are at risk of criminal sanction. Furthermore, if we do not believe women should be imprisoned we should not accept a law which stipulates that they should. • The threat of prosecution puts doctors off training in this field and providing care. Consequently, women can be denied an abortion because they cannot find doctors willing or able to treat them.
• The 1967 Abortion Act is preventing the best medical care. In requiring women obtain the permission of 2 doctors, the current law can delay women who are sure of their decision. It also prohibits nurse or midwife-led services that are now the model in delivering woman-centred maternity care.
• There is no evidence that decriminalisation would lead to an increase in the rate of abortion. Canada and jurisdictions in Australia have removed abortion from the criminal law and have not experienced an increase in the numbers of abortions performed, or an increase in late term abortions.
The We Trust Women campaign is supported by a coalition of organisations, including the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas), Royal College of Midwives, Fawcett Society, Women’s Aid, Family Planning Association (FPA), Maternity Action, British Humanist Association (BHA) End Violence Against Women Coalition, British Society of Abortion Care Providers, NUS Women’s Campaign, Birthrights, Southall Black Sisters, Lawyers for Choice, Equality Now, Voice for Choice, Alliance for Choice NI and Doctors for a Woman’s Choice on Abortion.
One in three women will have an abortion in their lifetime. In 2016, it is time that we trust women to make decisions about their own lives and ensure that they are able to access the best possible medical care. I urge you to make representations to the Women and Equalities Select Committee on this issue and support the campaign to overturn this out-dated law.
I look forward to hearing from you.