T O P I C R E V I E W
Redskies
Member # 79774
posted 09-02-2012 11:27 AM
Taking abortion out of the criminal law Voice for Choice ̶ Public Meeting 1st October 2012 6.45pm – 9.00pm Body & Soul 99 Rosebery Avenue London EC1R 4RE Free admission, booking available "You are invited to a public meeting to celebrate the International Day of Action for the Decriminalisation of Abortion, as part of events all over the world. The meeting will explore the situation in the UK: the vulnerability of doctors to prosecution and threats to women’s access to abortion under the 1967 Abortion Act, the situation in Northern Ireland and in other countries."http://educationforchoice.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/international-day-of-action-for.html
Heather
Member # 3
posted 09-02-2012 06:18 PM
Awesome! Would love to hear a field report if you go, Redskies. Also, if you do go and see Lisa, EFC's director, please say hello for me! She's fantastic.
copper86
Member # 95710
posted 09-03-2012 09:39 AM
This is great! Thank you so much for letting us become aware of this, Redskies!
Heather
Member # 3
posted 09-03-2012 09:45 AM
FYI, if anyone is interested, one of my fave charities to give to, and one I think is vitally important -- and you can give in the tiniest amounts, so even when I'm skint, I can still give something -- is the Abortion Support Network. http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/ It provides funding for Irish women to travel to England to obtain abortions. [ 09-03-2012, 09:46 AM: Message edited by: Heather ]
copper86
Member # 95710
posted 09-03-2012 10:36 AM
This sounds like an empowering and very worthy cause. Thank you, Heather!
Redskies
Member # 79774
posted 09-03-2012 02:18 PM
Very happy to share info if folk are interested Yes, the Abortion Support Network's work is really important. I don't feel like I know enough about the Republic of Ireland to comment, but in Northern Ireland, abortion is not legal for most reasons. That means that people there who need/want an abortion have to pay for the procedure in England/Wales/Scotland, not to mention their travel and accommodation costs and of course arranging the whole thing and taking that time out - which of course makes it impossible for many lower-income people. That is completely wrong because those people live in the UK and have the NHS in Northern Ireland, and yet still have those huge access problems and financial penalties to get healthcare still within the UK.
eryn_smiles
Member # 35643
posted 11-14-2012 04:25 AM
And here is a really sad example of what can happen because abortion is illegal in the Republic of Ireland http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20321741 I believe that deaths like this still occur fairly frequently in parts of the developing world where abortion is illegal, but are just not widely publicized in media.
Rei
Member # 49582
posted 11-14-2012 04:46 AM
I don't understand why her heartbeat didn't even matter to them.
Jacob at Scarleteen
Member # 66249
posted 11-14-2012 08:17 AM
People just starting pro-life campaigning in Leeds :-( I'm trying to make a flier to put through peoples doors since all the houses in the student area just got 2 batches of anti-choice propaganda in the past couple of weeks... any input I can get would be great. If I post a draft here later it'd be so great to hear what people think!
Jill2000Plus
Member # 41657
posted 11-14-2012 10:28 AM
Dear gosh that story is so sad. I agree, what about the woman's heartbeat?
Redskies
Member # 79774
posted 11-14-2012 03:24 PM
That story is so horrific in so many ways, I can barely think directly at it. Extra to what Eryn linked, there seem to be more details in this report http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/1114/1224326575203.html She was miscarrying for 3 DAYS while the doctors knew from the start it would be fatal for the foetus, and the law didn't allow intervention. This was a wanted baby. I cannot imagine the horror of spending 3 days in agony while my child (I tend to think of wanted and planned foetuses as children, because they probably are to the parents) died inside me. That alone should count as torture, when there is medical intervention available. From that report, it also sounds like they utterly failed to give her basic medical care that Was legal and available, because I'm reading elsewhere that when a person is in that condition for more than 24 hours, it's usual to give prophylactic antibiotics because of the known high risk of infection. It sounds like she was only given antibiotics once she was already seriously ill from infection. This poor woman, and her family. It's also unspeakably appalling that legally and structurally, that is what is Supposed to happen, and that all and any women's lives are worth so little. (Edit for clarification: technically, the law Does allow for abortion where the life of the mother is threatened, but it seems that this doesn't carry over into practice as there are often massive barriers to accessing that even when necessary and that doctors encounter or believe they will encounter very serious professional difficulties for doing such a termination.) [ 11-14-2012, 03:46 PM: Message edited by: Redskies ]
Jacob at Scarleteen
Member # 66249
posted 11-17-2012 04:49 AM
Can I just add more positive note how very very very proud I am feeling I am that people are getting behind a person of colour who was a victim of these horrific pro-life policies. These issues are so often whitewashed, even by feminists. I've rarely seen a south east asian person be so unapologetically championed in this part of the world. It's a tragedy that it has been about her death but none the less, as well as the strong pro-choice response, the argument against cultural and racial discrimination is inspiring.