Urgent appeal : Abortion Support Network to run out of funds by the end of the month

Many support the right of women to have safe legal abortions when they need them. Well, now is the time to put your money where your principles are .

from the F-Word :

The Abortion Support Network, which helps women who have been forced to travel from Ireland to Britain for an abortion, is urgently in need of funds and is set to reach the end of its reserves by the end of February.

ASN’s director Mara Clarke sent a pleading email to supporters yesterday, explaining what has happened: in short, more women than before are coming forward as media coverage has made them aware of the organisation’s existence, and a number of expensive cases involving young women and women late in pregnancy.

So far in 2011, ASN has helped women including:

A 15 year old girl
A 20 week pregnant 16 year old
A 19 year old pregnant as the result of rape, who had to go through the added distress of having to find a way to provide DNA evidence to the police
A mother of two who had to reschedule her appointments due to snow, making her later term
A single mother of a young child, recently out of a rehabilitation facility,
A mother of four supporting her family with a part time job only able to come up with £800 towards her £1390 procedure
A single woman who wanted her baby - until she lost her job.
A woman who came to the UK for a 2-day procedure without realising she would need to find her own accommodation
Marta says:

By donating today, you can help break down the barriers preventing women from obtaining timely, cost-effective abortions and, in turn, help us to be able to serve a greater number of women. 100% of your donation will go DIRECTLY toward paying for a women’s abortion.



Right, this service is essential. Donate now .

Catholic church renounces hospital over life-saving abortion

The head of the Catholic church in Phoenix has stripped Arizona's largest hospital of its Catholic affiliation after he ruled that a decision to save the life of a mother by terminating her 11-week pregnancy was morally wrong.

What a disgrace. Mind you, perhaps the hospital will be better off without its Catholic affiliation. It didn't even come with any money!

Full story here.

More taking pops at the Pope !

I note with interest it seems to be male straight lefties that seem to be tut tutting at the attacks on the Pope. Apparently us poofs and girlies, well, we are all a tad middle class and are attacking the working class . Hmm, don't remember hearing that when the left attack the BNP, who sadly have quite a few working class members and supporters .

What is interesting is that it is women, LGBT people and those who have suffered abuse from Priests that are getting upset and angry . And damn right . We are the ones who are affected when the Catholic Church is able to push its reactionary views and Governments enact it in law.

Now of course the Church and its members have every right to argue their views. I support that wholeheartedly . I though have the right to protest as well. And lets be clear, we are not fighting a poor downtrodden group, but a rich institution .

Back to the working class issue . Lets look at the impact of access to contraception and abortion on women and how class impacts it.

Pre the 1967 Act many women still had abortion, illegal or not. Desperate people find the means . Thing is women who were poor and working class had to resort to back street abortions or trying to induce themselves with very dodgy methods. Many died , others suffered long term harm to their fertility.

I always remember my mother (working class hairdresser married to a working class painter and decorator, see i''m not a soft bleeding heart liberal with uni lecturers for parents!) telling me about women she worked with having abortions. One woman came back after lunch and started bleeding heavily and was ill, but too scared to go to hospital. She was lucky, she lived.

My mother once worked in South Kensington where 'ladies' would pop in. It was known that they sometimes needed to see a nice doctor to sort out a personal problem. No backstreets for them, the finest Harley Street could offer.

Back to today. Many women have to travel here from Ireland for abortions . Now this costs , fares and accommodation . For some women they just don't have that money or it often takes a while to collect, resulting in a later termination. Those women with money , can hop over and get the procedure done quickly and with minimal stress.

Money has always allowed greater access to contraception and abortion, often essential when laws and religion stand in the way . So please, this is a class issue . It would be good to see leftie men supporting women and LGBT people, usually at the harsh end of these policies . The Catholic Church is rich and powerful enough to fight its own battles, but the left need to argue against its influence across the world. The personal is political, just for some men on the left they are not affected and can't grasp the anger and solidarity some of us feel .

'No foetal pain before 24 weeks'

Good news for supporters of abortion rights as The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published a report stating that there is no evidence that foetuses feel paid before 24 weeks and therefore no reason to further reduce the legal time limit for abortions.

The report stated that brain connections are not fully formed, and the environment of the womb creates a state of induced sleep, like unconsciousness, they add. Foetuses at this stage are "undeveloped and sedated". It also found that there may well be no foetal pain well beyond 24 weeks.

Not only will this report make it harder for anti-abortionists to lobby for cuts in time limits, it will also provide comfort and reassurance to women facing the stressful decision of whether to continue or terminate an unwanted pregnancy. A difficult decision is made slightly less difficult without the worry - often brought on by untrue and alarmist anti-abortion propaganda - that a foetus may feel pain.

This report has, of course, seriously annoyed anti-abortion groups, which rarely allow such small matters as facts and medical science get in the way of following the instructions of their god. They had been pinning their hopes of further restricting women's abortion rights on the election of a Tory government, recognising that there is sufficient commitment to those rights within the labour movement that a Labour government was unlikely to do so even while it attacked the working class in other ways. That commitment comes from an understanding that when abortion rights are restricted, it is working-class women who suffer the most - having fewer choices available and being less able to access private treatment.

Anti-abortion group Life responded to the report by saying that, "the issue of whether or not an unborn child feels pain is highly peripheral to the ethical debate over abortion. Our intrinsic dignity as human beings does not in any way depend on the extent of our ability to feel pain."

Now tell me this. If a report had appeared asserting that foetuses can feel pain before 24 weeks' gestation, do you think that Life and their fellow anti-abortionists would dismiss it as "peripheral"?! No, I don't think so either.

Nicuragua - denying women is terrorism against women

Well so much for Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas being socialists. Ortega has brought in a brutal penal code that has criminalised all abortions in Nicuragua, not that it matters but for all abortions regardless of the circumstances.

Read what Amnesty International have to say on Nicaragua. So glad they started to see women's need for abortion as a human rights issue. Well done Amnesty.

Women and girls must have the right to choose to pregnant or not - abortion is essential to women and girls for a plethora of reasons, a woman's right to choose must not just include the right to abortion if she needs it but also rights over her fertility and sexuality, women need to be able to choose who to have sex with and for it to be wanted, safe and protected.

Daniel Ortega's deal with the Catholic Church indicates a misogynistic response to women's needs. His government is behaving barbariously by preventing women the right not just to choose but to live. Ortega and his government must be condemned by socialists and lefts through out the world.

From an article from Amnesty International below:

Nicaragua's total ban on abortions is endangering the lives of girls and women, denying them life-saving treatment, preventing health professionals from practising effective medicine and contributing to an increase in maternal deaths across the country, concluded Amnesty International in a new report today, Read the report: 'The Total Abortion Ban In Nicaragua' (PDF).

According to official figures, 33 girls and women have died in pregnancy this year as compared to 20 in the same period last year. Amnesty International believes these figures are only a minimum as the government itself has acknowledged that the number of maternal deaths is under-recorded.

The report 'The total abortion ban in Nicaragua: Women's lives and health endangered, medical professionals criminalised' is the first Amnesty International study examining the human rights implications of the denial of abortion when the life or health of a woman or girl is at risk, including when she is a victim of rape or incest.

Nicaragua's revised Penal Code stipulates prison sentences for girls and women who seek an abortion and for health professionals who provide health services associated with abortion. Only three per cent of the world's countries have such absolute bans in place.

The new Code introduces criminal sanctions for doctors and nurses who treat a pregnant woman or girl for illnesses such as cancer, malaria, HIV/AIDS or cardiac emergencies where such treatment is contraindicated in pregnancy and may cause injury to or death of the embryo or foetus. This includes eptopic pregrancies when the foetus is not viable and the consequences can be at best a hysterectomy and at worst, death.

It even goes as far as punishing girls and women who have suffered a miscarriage, as in many cases it is impossible to distinguish spontaneous from induced abortions. Women cannot get D & C's after a miscarriage in order to ensure the foetus and other pregnancy debris is removed properly causing blood poisoning after miscarriagesparticularly later ones.

This new law is in conflict with the Nicaraguan Obstetric Rules and Protocols issued by the Ministry of Health which mandate therapeutic abortions as clinical responses to specific cases. However, no assurances have been given by the authorities that doctors will not be prosecuted if they respect these Rules.

Speaking at a press conference in Mexico City following her visit to Nicaragua, Amnesty International's Executive Deputy Secretary General, Kate Gilmore said:

'Nicaragua's ban of therapeutic abortion is a disgrace. It is a human rights scandal that ridicules medical science and distorts the law into a weapon against the provision of essential medical care to pregnant girls and women.'

'Nicaragua's Penal Code is a callous and cynical artefact of the political wheeling and dealing that took place in the country's 2006 elections. Today, however, it punishes women and girl children for seeking life saving medical treatment and doctors for providing it.'

Amnesty International delegates have met with young girls who, having been subjected to sexual violence at the hands of close family members or friends, were compelled to carry the resulting pregnancies to term -giving birth in many instances to their own brothers or sisters - because they were denied access to alternatives. It is deeply troubling that there was a recorded rise in pregnant teenagers committing suicide by consuming poison in 2008. THe question also has to be asked why is incest not being dealt with seriously in Nicuragua?

Obstetricians, gynaecologists and family doctors in Nicaragua told Amnesty International that under this Penal Code they can no longer legally provide effective medical treatment for life threatening diseases in pregnant women and girls because of the potential risk to the foetus.

One doctor told Amnesty International that she prays she will not receive a patient with an anencephalic pregnancy (a condition which means the foetus cannot survive) because of the prospect of telling the woman she will be compelled to carry the pregnancy to full term, despite its devastating physiological and psychological impact on the woman.

Kate Gilmore said:

'There's only one way to describe what we have seen in Nicaragua: sheer horror.

'Children are being compelled to bear children. Pregnant women are being denied essential including life saving medical care.'

'What alternatives is this government offering a ten-year-old pregnant as a result of rape? And to a cancer sufferer who is denied life saving treatment just because she is pregnant, while she has other children waiting at home?

'Girls pregnant as a result of incest had the courage to meet with us to speak out against the situation but President Ortega did not. It appears the Nicaraguan authorities could not stand up for the law, would not be accountable for the law nor commit themselves to its urgent repeal.'

So how come the government can enforce their monstrous penal code which tortures and murders women and girls but cannot seem to enforce a penal code against incest and rape?

Amnesty International is urging the Nicaraguan authorities to:

Immediately repeal the law that bans all forms of abortion.

Guarantee safe and accessible abortion services for rape victims and women whose lives or health would be at risk from the continuation of pregnancy.

Protect the freedom of speech of those who speak out against the law and offer comprehensive support to the women and girls affected by the law.

Amnesty International is also calling on Nicaragua's Supreme Court to issue a decision on the legality and constitutionality of the law as a matter of the utmost urgency.

Doctor murdered by pro-lifers - what a joke!

By ROXANA HEGEMAN – 2 hours ago from Press Association

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — When George Tiller was young he dreamed not of being one of the most visible and strident advocates for abortion rights, but of becoming a dermatologist.

The 67-year-old physician, who was shot and killed Sunday in his church, had said his path was altered by a 1970 plane crash that killed his father, mother, sister and brother-in-law.

The former Navy flight surgeon was left with his father's family practice in Wichita, and he soon learned a secret. One of his father's patients asked him whether he, like his father, would perform abortions.

At first, Tiller said, he did not believe his father had risked his medical license by performing then-illegal abortions. But after the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortions in 1973, Tiller began providing them.

By the time he was killed, his clinic, Women's Health Care Services, was among just three in the nation to perform abortions after 21 weeks of pregnancy, when the fetus is considered viable.

He was a focus of abortion opponents for years, most peaceful, some violent.

"George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality health care despite frequent threats and violence," his Tiller's widow, four children and 10 grandchildren said in a statement. They called him "a good husband, father and grandfather and a dedicated servant on behalf of the rights of women everywhere."

Tiller's clinic was bombed in 1985, and he was shot in both arms in 1993 by abortion protester Rachelle "Shelley" Shannon of Grants Pass, Ore.

In 1991, the Summer of Mercy protests organized by Operation Rescue drew thousands of anti-abortion activists to Wichita for demonstrations marked by civil disobedience and mass arrests.

Federal marshals protected Tiller during the Summer of Mercy protests, and he was protected again between 1994 and 1998 after another abortion provider was assassinated and federal authorities reported finding his name on an assassination list.

The women's clinic is fortified with bulletproof glass, and Tiller hired a private security team to protect the facility. Once outside the clinic, Tiller was usually seen accompanied by a bodyguard.

Anti-abortion groups condemned Tiller's slaying.

"We value life, completely deplore violence, and are shocked and very upset by what happened in Wichita today," said Mary Kay Culp, executive director of the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life.

Tiller in 1997 said his "gifts of understanding" helped him bring a service to women that aided them in making their dreams of a happy, healthy family a reality.

Tiller, who in his later years largely shunned interviews and public appearances amid his family's increasing fear of violence against him, said abortion was as socially divisive as slavery or prohibition.

But he said the issue was about giving women a choice when dealing with technology that can diagnose severe fetal abnormalities before a baby is born.

"Prenatal testing without prenatal choices is medical fraud," Tiller once said.

Tiller contended that he pioneered the use of sonogram imaging during procedures, a process that has since been adopted by abortion providers nationwide.

In 2002, Tiller founded ProKanDo, a state political action committee, to help elect abortion rights supporters and support abortion-friendly legislation.

His resume includes the National Abortion Federation's highest honor, The Christopher Tietze Humanitarian Award, as well as the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights' Faith and Freedom Award.

Screening for Autism?

Today's Guardian leads with the headline, New research brings autism screening closer to reality: Call for ethics debate as tests in womb could allow termination of pregnancies.

Response number one: every woman should have the right to terminate a pregnancy for whatever reasons she may have. It is vital that the 'ethics debate' that the Guardian calls for does not pit the pro-choice movement against the autism community. It is possible - and very necessary - to defend to right to terminate a pregnancy while also opposing the idea that detection of autism in a foetus means that you necessarily should have an abortion.

The National Autistic Society says that none of its members say that they wish it had been possible to know that their foetus would be born an autistic child so that they could have a termination. That's a heart-warming read, and certainly one that I personally echo. But actually, it's a slightly unfair question. Very few people could look at their kids and say "I wish I hadn't had you" - whether they would have made the decision not to go ahead with a pregnancy before the child was born, before s/he laughed, cried, cuddled you and became part of your life, is another matter.

The NAS also says that some of its members would have appreciated knowing that their child would be autistic before birth so that they could prepare and arrange support. Point taken. However, if society educated the population as a whole about autism, if everyone knew about it and support was readily available to everyone who needed it, then perhaps you wouldn't need to know specifically that your child would be autistic.

One issue not mentioned in the Guardian article is that knowing that your baby is autistic may inform your decision as to whether - or when - to have further children. When we decided to have a third child, we did not know that Joe was on the autistic spectrum, and his younger brother was born when he was two years and one month old. Autism - particularly at the 'higher-functioning' end of the spectrum where Joe's Asperger's lies - is virtually never detected at so early an age. There is no way in the world I would be without my gorgeous Harrison, but I can see a point that other families in similar situations may decide against, or may postpone, having another child if they knew their kid was autistic.

I worry about how these new findings may be used by some to whip up momentum to 'eliminate' autism. But I can not regret the advance in understanding that has apparently been made. Increased knowledge can only be a good thing: it is the interpretations and uses that may be attached to it that may be problematic.

This is all assuming, of course, that the Autism Research Centre's findings are based on credible science - unlike the 'MMR causes autism' nonsense that caused a panic a few years back, led to loads of kids being put through the unnecessary distress of three separate injections, and now has its authors facing GMC charges of serious professional misconduct.

The ARC's research is based on studying the amniotic fluid of the mothers of 235 children, and showing that consistently, the mothers of those kids who showed autistic traits had high levels of testosterone in their amniotic fluid. This dovetails neatly with the much higher incidence of autism amongst boys than girls (it is apparently 4:1 for autistic spectrum disorders in general, 9:1 for Asperger's), and with the idea that autism can be conceptualised as the "extreme male brain". I am not in a position to subject the research to rigorous scientific examination, but some people are, and they most certainly should.

I don't think we have a problem with prenatal screening for disorders. I don't see many socialists or feminists demanding, for example, that amniocentesis be scrapped as unethical because it leads to the abortion of foetuses with Down's Syndrome. A woman should not be forced to have a Down's child who she feels she can not cope with; but equally, a woman who does choose to have a child with Down's should receive full support with her parenting, and the child should receive full support too.

However, there is a further issue with autism. We would generally be in favour, where it is possible, of the elimination of a disability or illness. Not the elimination of disabled people, but of the disability. Where medical science has brought an end to illnesses such as smallpox, where it has made some types of blindness eg. cataracts, curable, that is a good thing. But do we actually want to eliminate autism? Simon Baron Cohen asks a pertinent question in the Guardian article, "What would we lose if children with autistic spectrum disorders were eliminated from the population?"

As we have repeatedly argued on this blog, autism has positives as well as negatives. Perhaps this is more so at the 'high-functioning' end of the spectrum, but the screening will not reveal the autistic child's location on the spectrum, and in any case, as Prof Simon says, "ethically the same issues apply wherever the person is on that spectrum".

If we eliminate blindness, then everyone can see. If we eliminate autism, though, we risk eliminating insights and talents that come with the condition along with the undoubted difficulties.

Gay marriage ..yes we can...no we can't

In the amidst of the Obama victory, two of the states that voted for him also backed a move that bans same sex marriage. A blow to equality:


California and two other states voted in Tuesday's elections to ban same-sex marriage, dealing a blow to gays and lesbians in the left-leaning, trend-setting state months after they won their case in state court.

Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council which worked for the passage of the anti-gay marriage measures, said the wins on same-sex marriage bans signaled Obama's mandate is for economic policy, "not one to implement a radical social policy."

"What lost last night was the Republican Party, but it was not a rejection of traditional or moral values, because you have two states that voted for Barack Obama -- Florida and California -- that also passed the marriage amendments," Perkins told Reuters in a telephone interview.

California's Supreme Court had declared same-sex marriage a right in May, unleashing a flood of weddings, but the state's voters changed the Constitution to rescind the right after one of the most expensive ballot campaigns in history.

Florida and Arizona joined California in Tuesday's elections, adding to the list of dozens of states banning same-sex marriages with similar laws.

The good news is :

Meanwhile, in one of the most emotionally-fought U.S. social issues, abortion rights advocates declared victory in two states.

Colorado voters rejected a measure that would have made abortion the legal equivalent of murder by defining human life as beginning at conception.

South Dakota defeated a ban on abortion that, if passed, had been expected to spark a court battle leading to the Supreme Court.

Abortion Rights - Protest 21st October

Below is some info I have been sent about the demo ahead of the Report stage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill on 22nd October:







PROTEST
Tuesday 21st October - 5.30pm onwards
For a woman's right to choose
Emergency protest to show the strength of pro-choice opinion ahead of the final abortion votes in Parliament

Old Palace Yard, outside Parliament, St Stephen's entrance

The protest has been called to oppose further anti-abortion attempts to drive back women's fundamental rights and support the first Parliamentary opportunity in a generation to improve the law for women and extend rights to Northern Ireland.


All pro-choice supporters welcome!
Please bring your friends, colleagues and banners

It has now been confirmed that the final votes on abortion at the Report stage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill will take place on 22nd October. The votes are expected in the afternoon. This protest has been called at short notice to ensure that MPs and the media feel the strength of pro-choice opinion ahead of these crucial votes. Please encourage your trade union, women's group, student union or other organisation to come along.

Despite a strong vote in Parliament against restrictions in women's abortion rights on 20th May 2008, anti-abortionists will try to impose 'cooling off' delays, counselling on women and severely restrict the grounds for requesting an abortion.

40 years after the enactment of the 1967 Abortion Act, women need improved rights to end current widespread obstruction and delays when accessing services. We are supporting the calls of women in Northern Ireland for rights to be extended there.


Write to your MP
If you haven't already, now is the time to write to, email, phone or visit your MP in advance of the vote on 22nd October. A model letter and information on how to identify and contact your MP is available on the campaign website www.abortionrights.org.uk.



I attended the meeting at the House of Commons the other week and its crucial we support the amendments to improve access and remove the obstacles for women. It was made clear that the ability to add positive amendments to a Government Bill doesn't come along very often . Also if the next House of Commons does have a Tory majority , or at least more of them, its highly likely rights will be under further attack given how the parties tend to vote on this issue.

Do please contact your MPs and argue both for the defence of what we have and the positive amendments. There is more info on the Abortion Rights site about the amendments.

I also received this e mail update :

There are rumours that the Government are proposing to table a Programme motion which will mean that it is highly unlikely for none of the positive pro-choice amendments can be discussed. It is very urgent that the unions (and union’s members) lobby the Government not to do this. Any press and publicity that can be created would be very welcomed.

So even more important to keep the pressure on.

Support Abortion Rights in Northern Ireland

Sign this petition.

Here is the wording from the petition page:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to extend the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland, and grant women there the same rights to abortion as women in the rest of the United Kingdom. More details

Submitted by Dr Audrey Simpson OBE of fpa (Family Planning Association)
Deadline to sign up by: 02 September 2009 –

More details from petition creator

We believe that the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly should extend the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland, and grant women there the same rights to abortion as women in the rest of the United Kingdom.

As the law currently stands, no woman in Northern Ireland with an unwanted pregnancy (including women who’ve been raped, victims of incest, diagnosed with fetal abnormality/disability) has the automatic right to abortion.

Consequently, Northern Irish women:

• Pay the emotional and financial costs (up to £2,500) and travel to England or overseas for a private abortion.

• Have babies they have already decided they don’t want.

• Buy illegal and unsafe abortion pills on the internet in desperation.

fpa believes Parliament should change the law to end the discrimination against Northern Ireland women and give them the right to choose.

Public Meeting - For a women's right to choose

I seemed to have dropped off Abortion Rights e-mail list, so thanks to Louise for sending this to me:

For a woman’s right to choose
Campaigning to defend and extend women’s abortion rights in the final stages of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill

7pm Tuesday 7 October 2008 House of Commons Committee Room 10

Speakers include:
Diane Abbott MP, Katy Clark MP, Katie Curtis NUS, Evan Harris MP, Wendy Savage DWCA, Dr Audrey Simpson fpa Northern Ireland, Polly Toynbee Guardian commentator, TUC speaker. Others to be confirmed.

All pro-choice supporters welcome!

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill goes through its final stages in Parliament this autumn. In May we defeated anti-abortion amendments to lower the time limit from 24 weeks. This was a huge victory for women, the pro-choice movement and Abortion Rights. Yet the fight is not over — anti-abortion MPs have tabled a series of amendments to restrict women’s abortion rights when the Bill is voted on at its decisive Report Stage. We believe these amendments must be defeated.

Women in fact need improved rights. Forty years after the enactment of the 1967 Abortion Act, pro-choice MPs are seeking to improve access to abortion and bring the law into line with developments in medical practice and social attitudes. Changes proposed include a reduction in the number of doctors who need to consent, from two to one, and the extension of the law to Northern Ireland.
Eighty-three per cent of people support a woman’s right to choose. Abortion Rights believes the law should reflect that majority.

Join us to add your voice and debate the next steps for choice. The meeting is planned to allow plenty of time for questions and discussion.

A Call to the Labour Representation Committee on Abortion and LGBT rights

This is a guest post from Tami and is also on her blog Unknown Conscience and Shiraz Socialist.

I am posting it here as I think the left need to address this issue and the Women's Left Network will be doing so in light of the LRC supporting MPs who voted to limit a woman's rights to control their own bodies and to deny lesbian and single women fertility treatment. There needs to be discussion as to when someone's conscience overrides basic socialist principles of women's rights and equality for lesbian and single women families.

Should socialists (especially men) be voting against these rights and telling us how to live our lives ? Why is this 'conscience' and not other issues and why does religion excuse it? Why can they impose their values on women and not allow women to exercise their judgement and conscience rather than telling us what to do. There is a difference between conscience exercised for one's own actions and when it it used to control the actions of women and LGBT people in a way that is contrary to basic socialist principles. Oh and why is it women and LGBT's rights that are somehow negotiable on the left and accorded less priority ?

Men on the left might want to ponder why women get so angry at having to argue for our rights with them and ask themselves would this be acceptable for any other groups wanting to challenge discrimination , for example white people limiting the rights of black people and using 'conscience .'

They might want to look at why so many of the 'leaders' are men and why in general women are less involved in left politics.

Anyway enough from me, over to Tami ...

As my good blog readers will know, I have been out of blog land for the last few months due to a very heavy workload at university. I came back to discover that Andy Newman at Socialist Unity Blog - a blog I refuse to link to because of the behaviour of its moderator and a blog that I refuse to read - had launched an attack on me and the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) for my continued and principled oppsosition to George Galloway’s horrible position and record on abortion rights. He attacked me claiming that a conversation that I had in the comments section with people on Liam MacUaid’s blog meant that I was being a hypocrite for criticising Galloway because David Drew, an LRC affiliated MP, had a rubbish record on abortion rights as well. These were comments that I made months ago as anyone who knows me will know that I haven’t written anything on the abortion issue for some time. I had not known who David Drew was previously but Andy pointed out that he had a horrible record on abortion rights and LGBT rights.

“Fair enough” was my reply and I then said that I would raise it and speak with the LRC about it - and I did. I had informal conversations with a number of members over the last few months about what we should do about the issue and am now making a public appeal through the LRC women’s organisation, the Left Women’s Network (LWN), to release a statement about the 3 of 9 LRC affiliated MPs who voted to reduce the time limit and also voted in favour of a proposal which would make it impossible for single women and lesbians to have IVF treatment.

This is something that would have come about regardless but for Andy Newman scoring cheap shots by brow beating me for not knowing who David Drew was all those months ago, calling me a “liar” for pointing out that he did not include my original response in his attack on me and now attacking me once again for an article I wrote defending the Hands off the People of Iran (HOPI) organisation from the Stop the War Coalition last year are more important than having a civil discussion and work rather well to deflect attention from the record of his own MP over which he and his orgainsation have full control, George Galloway.

I have been consistent in my call for MPs to be held to account. Andy Newman has been all over the place on his blog about women’s rights, sexism and LGBT rights. Far from creating “left unity” his blog does nothing but divide the ranks of those who should be working together. Hold your MP to account Respect Renewal - don’t allow an opt out for women’s rights!

Here is a letter I wrote yesterday to members of the Left Women’s Network:

Hello Sisters and Comrades,

Many thanks to all of you who worked so very had to ensure that the right wing was not able to push women’s rights further backward with the recent prosposed amendments on to the Human Fertalisation and Embryology Bill. However sisters, I am afraid that there is an elephant in the room with the results that we need to address urgently. Of the 9 affiliated LRC MPs 3 voted to oppose keeping the 24 week time limit. These were Bob Wareing, David Hamilton and David Drew. The first two voted for a reduction to 22 weeks with David Drew voting for a reduction to 12 weeks. Further, the 3 aformentioned MPs voted in favour of a proposed amendment to deny IVF treatment to lesbian couples and single women.

While it may be difficult to do, we must be openly critical of these MPs. The Left Women’s Network is seen as the women’s section of the LRC. We would be completely remiss to not say a word about the votes of MPs who we are affiliated with. In light of this, I propose the Left Women’s Network adopt the following as a matter of urgency and print it as a matter of public record on our website:

*The Left Women’s Network understands that 3 of 9 LRC affiliated MPs did not vote in favour of maintaining the 24 week time limit to ensure safe and legal abortions for women

*That 1 LRC affiliated MP voted in support of a reduction to 12 weeks - something that would in effect make abortion illegal for many women

*That, in addition, the 3 aforementioned MPs also voted against the right of lesbian and single women to have IVF treatment by supporting the amendment calling for “a father” to subsitute “supportive parenting”

*That given that the LWN believes women’s rights and LGBT rights are not secondary to other political positions such as racism or war

*That as the women’s affiliate to the LRC we must address that this has occurred

*That the Left Women’s Network will post our opposition to these votes publicly on our website

*That we call on the LRC as an organisation to publicly state its opposition to the positions of these LRC affiliated MPs

*That we submit this to the LRC NC for immediate discussion at its next meeting

I hope that LWN is going to be the kind of organisation that not only fights for women’s rights, but is able to be critical of our allies when they have taken the wrong position. Too often abortion rights and LGBT rights are seen as simply “matters of conscience” but the reality is sisters, that war, racism and discrimination are all “matters of conscience” and we do not allow our political allies “opt out” clauses on these issues. This is an extension of the false belief in the distinction between the “private” and “public” sphere and we must reject the Victorian notion that these issues are somehow outside of the realm of “real politics”. Our sisters in the 1970s taught us that “the personal is the political” and I believe that this is in fact still the case. We must ensure that we address these issues both inside and outside of our movement in order to have a strong socialist feminist organisation in the coming months and years.

Comradely and in Sisterhood,
Tami Peterson

You will see no such letter from Andy, Liam or anyone else in Respect Renewal about George Galloway - that’s because although they have the power to hold him to account, they prefer to allow him the ability to opt out on women’s rights. Some of us are consistent with our principles and if that is something that others want to continue to attack me for then that must mean I am doing something right. I will continue to fight until women’s rights are not seen as “optional” or “secondary”. It’s a fight worth undertaking - both inside and outside the left and one that I hope we will eventually win.

Antis Vow To Fight On

The anti-choice brigade have pledged to keep up their fight to restrict and deny women the right to control our own bodies.

Ergo, the pro-choice movement needs to ensure that our laurels are not rested on. We need to be vigilant against further attacks from the antis, but we should also use the momentum of our successful defence of the 24-week time limit to demand liberalisation of the law and better access to abortion facilities.

One thing that bothered me about recent campaigning was its virtually entirely defensive nature. The mainstream pro-choice movement - perhaps represented by Abortion Rights - seemed highly reluctant to propose improvements in our rights, for example:

• Removing the requirement for two doctors' authorisation for a termination, especially in the first 12 weeks;
  
• Extending legal abortion to Northern Ireland;
  
• Ensuring that NHS abortion facilities are freely available to all women who need them.

Given the vote against cuts in the time limit, which was maybe more comfortable than many of us had feared, positive amendments would have had a decent chance of being passed - had they been moved. Moreover, while we were defending the existing time limit, 24 weeks seems too restrictive to me. The time limit used to be 28 weeks, and when Parliament cut it to 24 weeks, that was a defeat for women's rights - a defeat that we should aim to reverse. It's time to go on the offensive.

Interestingly, the antis now appear to be pinning their hopes on the election of a Tory government. Given the self-destruction of New Labour, its wilful discarding of working-class votes that it took for granted, that seems a pretty good bet. So how should we respond? By forgiving and forgetting New Labour's crimes, and rallying round them for fear of the Tories and anti-abortionists? I think not. We need to go into the next General Election with a working-class party with socialist policies including support for women's repreoductive rights. That, I am well aware, is easier blogged than done.

Good news on Human Embryology and Fertilisation Bill and Mehdi Kazemi

Its like buses, you wait ages then three come along .

First off as Janine says, the attempts to restrict abortion rights were defeated last night, as were Tory attempts to block the move to 'supportive 'parenting that would allow single women and lesbian couples access to fertility treatment and be considered valid families.

And even more good news is that Mehdi Kazemi has been granted asylum.


I'll post on last nights demo, with pics and some thoughts later.

MPs Vote to Keep 24-week Abortion Limit

Hurrah.

*Please take 10 minutes out of your day to write to your MP* DEFEND A WOMAN'S RIGHT CHOOSE

Left Women's Network are reminding people to contact their MPs to defend abortion rights.Its not about time limits, its about defending the limited rights women have at the moment. The 20 weeks debate is a salami tactic, the anti abortionists won't be happy till its illegal full stop and sod what happens to women. Check out the amendments, they include a limit of 12 weeks .

LWN says :

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill was debated in parliament yesterday.
We are expecting that the right will use the bill to attack abortion rights and the rights of lesbian women’s to access IVF treatment.
The important votes on these issues will take place on 19th/20th May and will be subject to a free vote.
There is an emergency protest called by Abortion Rights @ 5.30pm 20th May 2008 Parliament Square
It is really important that you lobby your MP to defend a woman’s right to choose.
You can find loads of information on the LeftWN Website

www.leftwomensnetwork.org*Please take 10 minutes out of your day to write to your MP*

Or ring or e-mail , but do it. It seems the anti abortionists are busy doing this and the pro choicers aren't. So do it...now !

The debate from Monday, and how MPs voted is here.

Emergency Protest on abortion rights

Details received from Abortion Rights:

Emergency Protest – as MPs vote on women’s abortion rights

Tuesday 20 May, 5.30pm Outside Parliament - details to be confirmed
Defend 24 Weeks – no reduction in abortion time limit

Tube: Westminster

Called by Abortion Rights http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/

On Tuesday 20 May Members of Parliament will debate and vote on the anti-abortion amendments to the Human Embryology and Fertilisation Bill. The key amendments aim to lower the time limit for abortion. This vote is taking place much earlier than expected and with very little notice. In the limited time available, it is vital that everyone who supports a woman’s right to choose does everything they can to show their opposition to any reduction in the time limit. Please attend this crucial protest – and encourage your trade union, women’s group, student union or other organization to send a presence. Please also write to your MP in advance of 20th to urge them to vote against any amendment to reduce the time limit. A model letter is available at http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/

We say:

Women must come first. There is no significant scientific or medical support for any reduction in the time limit. Yet a handful of anti-abortionists are using downright propaganda and misinformation, hoping to intimidate and mislead MPs into attacking women’s rights. An overwhelming majority of the public supports the right to choose: MPs should uphold choice and vote down amendments by Nadine Dorries and any anti-abortion MPs.

Less than two per cent of abortions take place after 20 weeks. If successful, a lowering of the abortion time limit would be devastating for a small number of women in difficult, unforeseeable and individual circumstances and would encourage further anti-abortion attacks. Contrary to anti-abortion hype, research shows there has been no increase in survival rates for births under 24 weeks. There is opposition to any lowering of the time limit from the British Medical Association, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, British Association of Perinatal Medicine, Royal College of Nursing, TUC and national trade unions, the Department of Health and MPs across all three major parliamentary political parties.

Write to your MP

Please try to write to, email, phone or visit your MP before this vote to urge them not to vote for any lowering of the abortion time limit. If you wish you can use the model letter on Abortion Rights website or the Abortion Rights postcard.

Funds needed

Abortion Rights urgently needs financial support in organizing this protest and in covering the costs of the campaign that has been organized. You can help by making a donation online or by cheque to ‘Abortion Rights’ and encouraging your organization to do so. You can also help by joining and by your organization affiliating to Abortion Rights.

Feminist Fightback presents...a Teach-In for Reproductive Freedoms

Can't go meself (though might pop to the social!), but thought some of you dear readers might like to know about this event, seeing as how interesting and useful it looks ...


Discussing ideas and planning action for a woman's right to choose
12 April, 12-5pm, Clement House Building, London School of Economics, Holborn (Holborn tube)

www.feministfightback.org.uk
rebecca.galbraith@yahoo.co.uk

12.00pm
Registration

12.30pm
Opening speech by Sofie Buckland (NUS National Executive)

1-2.15pm
a) Imperialism and Motherhood
Speaker: Anna Davin (founding editor of History Workshop Journal)
Facilitator: Gwyneth Lonergan
b) From Abortion Rights to Reproductive Freedoms
A panel discussion with Charlotte Gage (Abortion Rights), Cathy Nugent (Workers' Liberty), Rosie Woods (NHS worker)
Facilitator: Anna Longman

2.20-3.35pm
a) Getting your message across
Jill Mountford (former organiser of the Welfare State Network) and James House (TV documentaries producer)
Workshop facilitator: Rachael Ferguson
b) How to campaign
Workshop Facilitator: Anne-Marie O'Reilly (trade union organiser)

3.45-5pm
Planning for a National Day of Action
Facilitators: Laura Schwartz and Rebecca Galbraith

* Food: cheap vegetarian food will be served from 12 noon
* Free creche: Please register with rebecca.galbraith@yahoo.co.uk for a free creche place
* Social with X-talk: 7pm @ The Ivy House, Southampton Row, Holborn
* The teach-in is free to attend but a suggested donation of £1.50 unwaged and £3+ waged is encouraged.

Pro-Choice demo - London 6th February

Tami reported on the launch of a campaign by Abortion Rights to fightback against the attacks on a women's right to choose (which btw are still not good enough). This included :

...some direct action against Anne Widdecombe’s “road trip” to whip up support for the anti-choice amendments. I am listing the dates, times and venues in full in the hope that it will help to gain support for protests across the country. I plan on being at the London counter-demo and encourage everyone to join us in this crucial fight for a women’s right to choose against the forces of reaction. Anne Widdecombe’s Anti-Woman Road Show Dates:

Glasgow, 23rd of January @ The University Union, 7:30pm
Southampton, 30th of January @ Univ of Southampton, 7:30pm
London, 6th of February @ Central Hall Westminster, 7pm
Liverpool, 12th February @ The Liner Hotel, 7:30pm
Coventry, 13th February @ Coventry Cathedral, 7:30pm
Widnes, 18th February @ The Foundry, Lugsale Rd, 7:30pm
Cardiff, 4th March @ TheCity Temple, Cowbridge Rd, 7:30pm

The next one is in London:


Abortion Rights has called a peaceful pro-choice protest against anti-abortion MP Ann Widdecome’s road show ‘Not on your life . .. or anyone else’s’ which is promoting anti-abortion goals around the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill (subject to police permission).

Assemble outside Central Hall Westminster
Wednesday 6th February, 6.30pm
Nearest tube Westminster

Methodist Central Hall, Westminster is on Victoria Street in London, just off Parliament Square, next to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and facing Westminster Abbey.

Visit the link below for a map and directions
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&q=central+hall&near=Westminster&fb=1&cid=0,0,11521531439811860185&sa=X&oi=local_result&resnum=1&ct=image

The road show by ‘Ann Widdecombe and guests’ is jointly organised by hard line anti-abortion groups Care, Life and Right to Life Trust and is also being promoted by other anti-abortion organisations including the Christian Medical Fellowship.



I plan to be there and report back. I hope to see a good mix of left and feminist groups there. Even with the latest defeat on one of the amendments , we still need to be proactive and fight to not only defend the rights we have but to extend them. The anti abortionists will never give up. They will fight to erode not just access to abortion but contraception, sex education and all aspects of reproductive rights.

If anyone is going to one of the other demos and would like to do a report here do please get in touch.

Defend the Abortion Act - Campaigning for a Woman's Right to Decide

Yep, another meeting at the Commons next wednesday.

Organised by Abortion Rights :

Public meeting - Wednesday 16th January 2008 Defend the Abortion Act - Campaigning for a Woman's Right to decide

7pm for a 7.30pm start, Committee room 10, House of Commons, nearest tube Westminster

All pro-choice supporters welcome!

This public meeting will kick off the pro-choice campaigning to defeat anti-abortion amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill currently in parliament and to support any opportunities to advance women’s abortion rights.

The meeting will hear a range of short contributions from invited speakers followed by time for contributions thoughts and ideas from the floor.

Speakers include: Baroness Joyce Gould; Baroness Jenny Tonge; Emily Thornberry MP; Katy Clark MP; Diane Abbott MP; Frances O'Grady, Deputy General Secretary TUC; Wendy Savage, Doctors for A Woman's Choice on Abortion; Anni Marjoram, adviser to the Mayor of London; Alex Kemp, NUS Disabled Students' Campaign; Katherine Rake, Director Fawcett Society; Anne Quesney, Director Abortion Rights

Anti-abortionists opposed to women’s right to choose on abortion would like to use the government’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, currently speeding through the House of Lords, to restrict the Abortion Act. Already, Baroness Masham has tabled an amendment to restrict abortion. Other parliamentarians may try to lower the legal abortion time limit from 24 to 20 or even 13 weeks. Any such restrictions would be devastating for women and must be defeated. Pro-choice MPs are also expected to table amendments to improve the law. These should be fully supported.

Please allow plenty of time to clear security on entering the Palace of Westminster and tell the police outside Parliament that you are attending a meeting sponsored by Emily Thornberry MP

The room is wheelchair accessible and has a hearing loop system. Please let us know of any additional access requirements that may facilitate your attendance.

Have your say and get involved – all pro-choice supporters welcome!