Roe vs Westminster: Why don’t British women have the right to an abortion
Written by Ellie Newton for The Hearth
After five individuals voted to remove reproductive rights from 166 million women in the United States, our team at The Trouble Club decided to hold a panel to discuss the limits on women’s freedom here in the UK.
While it’s very easy to throw stones at our American cousins, our recent panel, which featured Katherine O’Brien from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and Hannah Peaker from the Women’s Equality Party, revealed that huge swathes of women in the United Kingdom still face large obstacles while trying to procure an abortion; either being refused access due to arbitary laws or facing criminal prosecution for choosing not to continue a pregnancy. This can include women who have experienced a miscarriage and then have to endure a police investigation to see if they induced their own pregnancy or illegally procured a termination - this happens to an estimated 20 women per year in the UK.
The pandemic forced some changes to the legislation in the UK - it became possible for women to get access to an at-home abortion via the pharmacy and remote contact with a nurse to guide the process. One of the practical benefits of this solution was the timings and being in the comfort of home whilst enduring the physical process of terminating a pregnancy. With clinic visits, women take the pills on site meaning that by the time the painful physical process kicks in they are often on the bus home. Even at home access to abortion worked well and could have been made a longer-term solution (like so many of the changes that became norms during the pandemic) however the UK government chose not to, so access has gone backwards.
In Northern Ireland, while abortion is now legal, clinics will only provide services up until the 10 week point. After this women have to travel to mainland UK to end their pregnancy and this forces many to continue their pregnancies against their will because of the cost and logistics involved.
Whilst the cut-off point of 24 weeks gestation in mainland UK might seem reasonable, in reality it is not uncommon for women to be told that even though they are below the 24 week threshold for an abortion, there are no appointments available before the cut off, forcing them to continue their pregnancy to the end.
In the UK women do not automatically have the right to an abortion and many are still investigated and arrested for operating basic control over their own bodies including a woman in Oxford who is currently awaiting sentencing for procuring her own abortion.
The law that makes abortion illegal was passed in 1861, at a time when women didn’t have the right to vote. Should women comply with a law that was passed when we had no democratic right to object? At The Trouble Club, we say no!
Eleanor Newton
Director of The Trouble Club
Why do women need space?
If I think about the world hypothetically, women shouldn't actually need their own space. Because if we lived in a world where things weren’t so controlled and dominated by men, many of whom don’t realise the damage they are doing by not acknowledging women's issues, how we differ or why we need space. Until internalised misogyny is eradicated and we have raised our young men to live in a world where these types of conversations about women's issues and gender equality are normal, then women certainly need their own space. I hope that one day that services like The Trouble Club exist because we want them, not because we need them.