Reproductive rights

"Pro-life" and the Manchester protests

Hundreds of students have joined protests against the establishment of a “pro-life” (anti-abortion-rights) society at Manchester University. The society was established in January, to “create a pro-life culture on campus, engage students on life issues and promote respect for the dignity of human life from conception.” A petition aimed at removing the society has over 18,000 signatures, with concerns raised about the original all-male committee making decisions regarding female bodies and medical rights. Students are right to protest anti-choice groups on campuses and student unions should do...

Unions should follow Royal College

Healthcare staff should not report suspected illegal abortions to the police as prosecutions are never in the public interest, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has said. The health unions should join the Royal College in issuing advice to health workers against reporting abortions to the police. Dr Ranee Thakar, the College’s president, said “outdated and antiquated” abortion laws meant women were “left vulnerable to criminal investigation.” The comments have provoked a backlash from anti-choice groups and have intensified attention on decriminalisation of abortion...

Lessons from Mexico

Verónica Cruz Sánchez is the founder of Las Libres, an organisation based in Guanajuato, Mexico, which campaigns for universal access to free, safe and legal abortion. Since 2021, and the repeal of Roe v Wade, Las Libres have been supporting women in the US to access abortions as well. Verónica spoke to Camila Vergara. What is Las Libres? Las Libres is a feminist organisation in Guanajuato, Mexico, that I and other feminists founded 23 years ago. In 2000, the state decided to criminalise abortion even in cases of rape, the only legal exception previously. There were big mobilisations against...

Unwell women

Elinor Cleghorn , author of Unwell Women: A Journey Through Medicine and Myth in a Man-Made World , reflects on witch trials, birth control and fainting couches. Elinor spoke to Justine Canady. In your book you tell the story of Anne Greene, who had a stillbirth and was put on trial in 1650 for “Destroying and Murdering Bastard Children”. This would have been during the most intense stages of the witch trials. How should feminists understand this historical period? The crossover between feminist history and the feminist health movement in the 1970s really reinvigorated attention around the...

Firefighters win on maternity pay

The country’s second largest fire service has approved maternity leave of 52 weeks on full pay. West Midlands Fire Service, the second largest in the country, has approved 52 weeks full pay for employees on maternity and adoption leave. Paternity leave was increased from one to two weeks with full pay. “This is a fantastic result for members in the West Midlands, for which we applaud the efforts of the brigade representatives and the local women’s committee,” said FBU assistant general secretary Ben Selby. “We are seeing other services move significantly too, which again is positive — but our...

The “demographic crisis” and women’s rights in China

Moral panic and societal anxiety over “the demographic crisis” have become a consensus shared by more and more governmental officials and mainstream media of China in the past few years, accompanied by the burgeoning of the internet feminist movement and the deterioration of gender equality both at home and in work. The video showing a woman wearing a chain in a rural village in Fenxian, Jiangsu, in February 2022, who was then revealed to have been kidnapped and forced to bear eight children with a man called Zhiyong Dong, has aroused national rage and criticism against the local authorities...

Snares in Poland after election

There is much to agree with in Ann Nukeman’s article on the Polish election ( Solidarity 687 ). I would like to add some further detail on the mobilisation of pro-choice voters and a more critical assessment of Lewica, the main left-wing electoral alliance. The All-Poland Women’s Strike, the organisation that provided the most prominent leadership in the 2020-21 mass protests against the near-total abortion ban, supplied a website where people could enter their postcode to see a list of politicians in red who do not support abortion. However, Women’s Strike’s role was minimal and politically...

Women’s vote tips Polish election

When the results were announced of Poland’s general election on 15 October, progressives breathed a sigh of relief. The ultra-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party was finally out of power. PiS’s eight years in government were characterised by attacks on democratic institutions, LGBTQ+ people, migrants and women. In 2020, a move to further restrict Poland’s already draconian abortion law led to the biggest wave of protest in the country’s democratic history. While the mass demonstrations didn’t manage to stop the near-complete ban on abortions, the election was seen as an opportunity to...

The horror of US jails and pregnancy

A US woman is suing after being forced to give birth in prison showers. Pregnancy Justice, Southern Poverty Law Center and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in Alabama on behalf of a woman whose constitutional rights were violated when a US prison treated her with cruel indifference, first restricting her access to necessary medical care during her high-risk pregnancy and then ignoring her pleas for help as she delivered her baby alone in a filthy jail shower — almost losing her life. Ashley Caswell was two months into her high-risk pregnancy when she was detained...

All the Rage 2023: A socialist feminist dayschool

Internationally the right's culture war is gaining ground, attacking LGBTQ people, in particular the trans community, rallying against immigration, and restricting reproductive freedoms. Working class women are at the sharp end of this assault and at the forefront of fighting back. Join us at for a day of workshops and talks to discuss where we stand and build a movement that can turn the tide. 10am-6pm + after-party until late. Pelican House, 144 Cambridge Heath Road London E1 5QJ Free childcare & London crash space on request SESSIONS (click on links for session details): • Opening Plenary...

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