We've defended reproductive rights from religiously motivated restrictions since our founding.
Religion should not stand in the way of reproductive healthcare.
A desire to restrict reproductive rights, and to control women's bodies, is a hallmark of religious fundamentalism. We strongly support the right of women to have legal and safe abortions and access to emergency contraception.
Since its founding the National Secular Society has supported reproductive rights. In 1878 our founder and vice-president were prosecuted for making information about birth control accessible to working class women.
Throughout the world, reproductive rights are still under threat from theocrats. While individual religious people hold diverse views on abortion, every stage of progress in reproductive healthcare has been fought by religious organisations. Often these have involved virulent campaigns of intimidation and misinformation.
84% of people in the UK believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. This includes 76% of religious people and 94% of nonreligious people.
In the UK, emergency contraception can still sometimes be difficult to obtain. Some religious pharmacists have defied General Pharmaceutical Council guidance by refusing to sell it or even to dispense a prescription given to a woman after a consultation with her own doctor.
People of all religions and beliefs can have disagreements on the boundaries of bodily autonomy and reproductive rights. However, religious beliefs should not be used to restrict the bodily autonomy of other people.
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Latest updates
Let women take abortion medication at home permanently, says NSS
Posted: Thu, 4 Mar 2021 12:24
The National Secular Society has said measures allowing women to have early medical abortions at home during the coronavirus pandemic should be made permanent across Britain.
A UK government consultation on the home use of abortion pills in England closed last week, as did a Welsh government consultation on termination of pregnancy arrangements. A similar consultation in Scotland closed in January.
In response to the consultations the NSS said religious ideology "should not be permitted to determine healthcare policies" and ministers' "primary consideration" should be "the safety and welfare of women seeking abortion services".
The NSS noted that most objections to early medical abortions at home and remote consultations "come from those who ideologically oppose abortion under all circumstances, and seek to make it harder for women to access abortion services".
The society highlighted several benefits of continuing to allow abortion medication to be taken at home, including that:
- It would make it easier for women and girls from religious communities which disapprove of abortion to access it.
- It would help to support confidentiality, and mean fewer women would need to face anti-choice protesters outside abortion clinics.
Mini-pill consultation response
The NSS has also responded to a further consultation on whether to allow the supply of Hana and Lovima tablets – commonly known as the mini-pill – in pharmacies.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which regulates medicines in the UK, has proposed the move.
The NSS's response again said the health and wellbeing of patients should be the primary consideration and noted experts' views that the pills are very safe.
The society also said the measure would make it easier for women and girls from religious communities which disapprove of contraception to access it.
NSS comment
NSS head of policy and research Megan Manson said: "Ministers should ensure people from all backgrounds and communities can access safe, timely, non-judgmental healthcare. That includes abortion care and sexual health counselling and treatment.
"Many of the objections to the proposals under consideration in these consultations are either explicitly religious or rooted in religious ideology. Making it easier for women to safely access abortion and contraception would help to show that their rights are not subject to a religious veto."
Image: fizkes/Shutterstock.com.
UK quizzed over collective worship law by UN
Posted: Thu, 18 Feb 2021 14:13
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has questioned laws which require collective worship in UK schools after the National Secular Society raised the issue.
The CRC asked what steps the UK is taking to repeal laws requiring daily acts of worship in schools, as part of its periodic examination of children's human rights in the UK.
The committee monitors the progress of member states' implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The CRC asked the UK to describe the measures it had taken to "repeal legal provisions for compulsory attendance at collective worship in publicly funded schools", and to ensure children can "independently exercise the right to withdraw from religious observance".
The UK is the only Western democracy to legally impose worship in publicly funded schools. Parents have a right to withdraw their children from collective worship, but children cannot withdraw themselves.
The NSS highlighted the issue of collective worship in a submission to the CRC in November.
The CRC also asked what measures the UK is taking to:
- Ensure relationships and sex education is LGBT-inclusive. The NSS's submission raised concerns about inadequate access to comprehensive RSE.
- Ensure girls' access to safe abortion services in Northern Ireland. The NSS said girls in NI are "still struggling" to access abortion services, despite the decriminalisation of abortion in 2019.
- Prevent cases of female genital mutilation and "unnecessary medical or surgical treatment of intersex children". But it did not raise the issue of non-therapeutic circumcision on boys. The NSS's submission urged the CRC to "extend its scrutiny" to this area.
- Integrate human rights education into school curricula and teacher training programmes. The NSS has repeatedly called for a stronger focus on human rights in citizenship education.
NSS comment
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "It's good to see the CRC defending children's right not to have religious rituals imposed on them, and their right to inclusive relationships and sex education.
"For too long, religious interference in education has undermined the rights to education, equality and freedom of religion or belief. The UK must take the CRC's requests seriously and urgently address these issues.
"But it's disappointing that the CRC has overlooked infant boys in its scrutiny of non-therapeutic genital cutting. All children, regardless of sex, should have equal rights to bodily autonomy and must be protected from painful, permanent and dangerous religious or cultural procedures done to them without their consent."
Testimonies in NSS submission
The NSS included testimonies from children and parents affected by the collective worship law in its submission.
One contributor, who was forced to pray in school, said: "Even at a young age I knew religion wasn't for me. That was my choice to make. It's not up to the state to force religion on anyone. Doing so is a breach of basic human rights."
Notes
- Every state that has ratified the convention is required to report to the CRC on how it is fulfilling its obligations. This allows the committee to assess what progress a state is making in implementing the convention. This reporting process happens once every five years.
- The UK's response to the CRC's list of issues is due on 15th February 2022.
