Push Labour and unions on abortion rights

On 17 June abortion rights supporters marched in solidarity with a woman jailed for two years for breaking abortion laws. The protest in London was sparked when a 44-year-old mother of three was given a 28-month extended sentence earlier in week after taking abortion pills after the 24-week legal limit. She was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant at the time.

Protesters marched from the Royal Courts of Justice to Whitehall, demanding release of the woman and an end to the criminalisation of abortion.

The same week people in Poland marched in at least 80 towns and cities to protest the death of a 33 year old woman who was wrongfully denied an abortion that could have saved her life.

Abortion continues to be legal in Poland if the pregnancy poses a risk to the health or life to the pregnant person, or is a result of a crime such as rape or incest. However, in 2020, Poland’s constitutional tribunal judged as unconstitutional abortion due to foetal abnormalities. In 2005, the then-director of the hospital in which Lalik died reportedly announced that the hospital would not perform any abortion as the procedure contradicted “God’s law and the pope’s teaching”. No abortion has taken place at the hospital since at least 2018, the Polish Gazeta Wyborcza reported.

Both countries could and should see a resurgence of abortion rights movement. Further protests are planned in other cities. Sheffield Solidarity Group has called a demonstration to protect the right to abortion at Barker’s Pool, noon, Saturday 24 June. A model motion has been produced for CLPs and union branches.

Dealing with abortion within criminal law restricts and stigmatises both those who request an abortion and the healthcare professionals who provide that care. Social reasons for women delaying seeking services include lack of recognition of pregnancy, family or relationship breakdown, domestic violence, sexual assault or rape, or denial of pregnancy due to social fears. Later abortion disproportionately involves teenage or vulnerable women. Nobody should face prison for a decision about their own body and health care. Nobody should be forced into unsafe abortion methods due to term limits preventing abortion by healthcare professionals later in pregnancy.

It is vital that Labour support progressive legislative change, including decriminalisation (which was in Labour’s 2019 election manifesto), abolition of term limits and reform to allow women and pregnant people to control their own bodies. Labour must also support roll back of outsourcing and cuts in healthcare and support expansion of sexual health and abortion provision. Restricted provision and shortages mean women often have to wait weeks even after doctors have agreed they can have an abortion. This is despite the NHS advising that no one should have to wait more than two weeks for an abortion.

There is a real mood to reform abortion law. Labour and unions should harness that energy into local and national organisation for expansion of reproductive freedoms.