| US-style election furore on abortion unpopular and bad news for women |
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PRESS RELEASE When one in three women in Britain has an abortion and 76 per cent of people support the current legal right to abortion, opportunistic interventions to attempt to divide public opinion on the right to legal, safe abortion is both damaging to women and likely to be very unpopular. Politicians would do well to resist attempts to concede to the demands of anti-abortionists. Misinformation spread by politicians that abortion is available on demand is contradicted by extensive evidence that women face serious obstacles and long delays in accessing abortion. A quarter of women having abortions in England and Wales have to pay for them - there are no public funds available specifically to help poorer women in these circumstances. Very little has been said in the current debate about improving access and NHS service provision that would make a real difference to women's lives.Politicians who are serious about reducing the number of abortions should not focus their energies on late abortion - only 0.6 per cent of abortions take place between 22 and 24 weeks - but on introducing statutory sex and relationships education and more widespread access to free contraception and emergency contraception to prevent unplanned pregnancies in the first place. Late abortions take place for exceptional and unforeseen reasons and are not taken lightly by anyone involved. A reduction of the current legal time limit would leave vulnerable women facing difficult circumstances (young women, menopausal women or those waiting for tests results identifying sever foetal anomalies) being forced to continue with pregnancies against their will. ENDS For further information and interviews please contact Anne Quesney, Abortion Rights Director on 020 7278 5539 or mobile 07909 974 101. Notes to editor: 1. Abortion Rights is the only abortion focussed campaigning and advocacy organisation in the UK. We lead the campaigns to defend and extend abortion rights and provide a pro-choice voice to the media. 2. Abortion Rights is campaigning to: * Liberalise the current UK abortion law and make abortion available on request in the first three months and with one doctor's signature thereafter. * Improve access to, and experience of, abortion - ensure that all women in the UK have equal access to safe, legal and free abortion. * Oppose any restrictions to women's current rights and access to abortion 3. Abortion in the UK * One in three women has an abortion in her lifetime * 76 per cent of the British population support a woman's right to choose. * Abortion laws in the UK are more restrictive than in almost every other European country, where abortion on request is legal in the first three months of pregnancy * Abortion has been legal in Britain since 1967, but only by permission of two doctors and in restricted circumstances * Ten per cent of GPs consider themselves to be conscientious objectors and frequently refuse to grant women an abortion, despite General Medical Council guidelines. * A quarter of women having abortions in England and Wales have to pay for them - there are no public funds available specifically to help poorer women in these circumstances e-mail choice@abortionrights.org.uk web www.abortionrights.org.uk |
