The campaign for choice
Women in the UK have had the right to abortion for decades and yet the debate still continues. Anjli Raval looks at why a greater provision of rights is needed and why some remain opposed
Forty years after the introduction of abortion rights in the UK, the debate, and controversy about the reproductive rights afforded to women continues.
Following the successful ‘Feminist Fightback’ conference in October last year - where issues such as women’s rights movements, the situation for women in the Middle East, and low and unequal pay were discussed - activists congregated last Saturday in London for a national march for women’s abortion rights. The march took place the weekend before International Women’s Day on Thursday, and was supported by the YUSU Women’s Officers.
Demonstrators campaigned on a number of issues, including the right to abortion on-demand (without the consent of two doctors - the current requirement), the provision of abortion on the NHS with better public funding to ensure free and equal access, and - according to campaign literature - ‘clear, comprehensive and confidential’ sex and relationship education for all children. This is set to be part of a drive to create a real ‘right to choose’, free from social and economic pressure.
The YUSU Women’s Officers stated that abortion rights should be of direct concern to students. Statistics from 2004 show that abortions are highest for women in the 18-24 age group. They commented, “It is especially important that students have the support they need when it comes to choosing”.
There is currently a ‘Right To Choose’ fund provided by YUSU which gives support to students who want an abortion, but cannot get one on the NHS and cannot afford to pay privately. The fund also finances antenatal- and childcare.
‘Pro-choice’ supporters at the march included a range of public figures from MPs and peers to doctors, nurses, sexual health organisations and trade unions, all calling for a law in line with public opinion. MORI, who have researched public attitudes regarding abortion, established that 63 percent of a representative sample of British adults agree “if a woman wants an abortion, she should not have to continue with her pregnancy”, compared to only 18% who dissent.
Ann Furedi, Chief Executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: “No woman ever wants to need to have an abortion, but those who do not want it to be legal are the minority.”
YUSU Policy & Campaigns Officer, Grace Fletcher-Hall, commented on US presidential candidate John McCain’s view that abortion rights should be repealed, stating that “It is no-one’s political right to make such decisions… you can’t legislate over a woman’s own body.”
Currently, the gestational limit for abortion is 24 weeks in England, Wales and Scotland. Abortion is permitted if the woman’s life is in danger, and the law requires that it be certified by two medical practitioners. The ‘pro-life’ lobby maintain that surgical abortion is always wrong. Some even regard abortion as murder and oppose it in all cases. Some make exceptions when the pregnancy was not caused by consensual sex; for example, in the case of rape.
The difficulty is that the subject provokes such strong reactions on both sides. Religious groups are strongly against abortion, who see it as a question of life or death and, thus, a spiritual concern. From this point of view, life essentially begins at conception rather than at birth. Therefore, for them, any action that destroys an embryo is indeed taking a human life.
