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.
Take action!
1. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
2. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
NI women will be able to access abortions in Ireland, minister says
Posted: Wed, 8 Aug 2018 17:21
Women from Northern Ireland will be able to access abortion services in the Republic of Ireland when the law changes there, an Irish minister has said.
On Tuesday night Ireland's minister for health Simon Harris told an event in Belfast he intended to ensure access was possible while Northern Ireland retained its current restrictions on abortion.
He added his view that Northern Ireland's laws should be liberalised in the near future.
"Whilst I respect the issue of abortion laws in Northern Ireland is a matter for public representatives in Northern Ireland, I really hope this is addressed in the near future.
"In the meantime, I intend to ensure women from Northern Ireland can access such services in the Republic, just like they can access other health services here."
Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland including in the cases of rape, incest or fatal foetal abnormalities. It is only allowed when "necessary to preserve the life of the woman, or there is a risk of real and serious adverse effect on her physical or mental health, which is either long term or permanent".
The Irish government is preparing to introduce legislation to allow abortions into parliament in the autumn. In May a sizable majority of Irish voters chose to repeal the eighth amendment, which banned abortion in almost all circumstances, in a referendum.
A National Secular Society spokesperson said Harris's words were "another reminder that religion cannot be allowed to dictate women's reproductive rights in Northern Ireland".
The NSS campaigns to ensure there are no religious restrictions on reproductive rights and has repeatedly called for reform of Northern Ireland's abortion laws.
Last year the NSS told the UN's Human Rights Council that Northern Ireland's restrictions on abortion were out of touch with international human rights norms. The society said decisions on upholding human rights should not be devolved.
Religion is a key reason why Northern Ireland retains stringent controls on abortion and was also a major reason why the Republic of Ireland had the eighth amendment.
Earlier this year a UN committee accused the UK of violating women's human rights by restricting abortions in Northern Ireland. The committee added that the UK should repeal the 19th-century law which criminalises abortion.
An official report for Northern Ireland's Departments of Health and Justice also recommended allowing abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities in Northern Ireland.
The UK's Supreme Court is currently considering whether abortion laws in Northern Ireland are incompatible with international human rights requirements.
In 2016 Stormont assembly members voted against a proposal to allow terminations in cases of fatal foetal abnormality and sexual crime.
Image: Portrait of Simon Harris, © Oireachtas, via Wikipedia [CC BY 4.0]
NI abortion law incompatible with human rights, says Supreme Court
Posted: Thu, 7 Jun 2018 13:57
The National Secular Society has reiterated its call for reform of Northern Ireland's abortion laws after a majority of Supreme Court judges said they were incompatible with human rights legislation.
On Thursday morning the judges said by a 5-2 margin that the current law on fatal foetal abnormality is disproportionate and incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. They said the same about laws on pregnancy as a result of rape and incest by a 4-3 margin.
Article 8 protects the right to respect for private and family life.
Judges called for reconsideration of the current legal position in NI, where abortion is banned except where a mother's life or mental health are considered in danger.
The court did not make a formal declaration that the laws were incompatible, saying that would have required a woman who was pregnant as a result of sexual crime or who was carrying a foetus with a fatal abnormality to bring the case.
It dismissed the case brought by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) on the basis that it did not have the standing to bring proceedings. A declaration of incompatibility would have forced a review of the law.
Lady Hale, the president of the court, said the NIHRC's technical defeat "does not mean that it [the court's majority view] can safely be ignored". Lord Mance described the current legislative position in Northern Ireland as "untenable and intrinsically disproportionate" and said it "clearly needs radical reconsideration".
And in a section on Article 3, which protects people from torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, Lord Kerr wrote: "We need to be clear about what the current law requires of women in this context... They are forbidden to do to their own bodies that which they wish to do; they are prevented from arranging their lives in the way that they want; they are denied the chance to shape their future as they desire.
"If, as well as the curtailment on their autonomy which this involves, they are carrying a foetus with a fatal abnormality or have been the victims of rape or incest, they are condemned, because legislation enacted in another era has decreed it, to endure untold suffering and desolation. What is that, if it is not humiliation and debasement?"
The court's view is in line with the NSS's submission to the UN's Human Rights Council last year, when we said restrictions on abortion in NI were out of touch with international human rights norms.
After today's ruling our chief executive Stephen Evans said the judgement "makes the need for reform of Northern Ireland's abortion laws very clear".
"The court has clearly stated that the existing law is incompatible with human rights legislation. This must count for more than the theocratic urge to restrict women's reproductive rights."
Religion is a crucial reason for Northern Ireland's draconian restrictions on abortion. DUP leader Arlene Foster has made clear that religion is a crucial reason why the party has obstructed reform.
We've long called for these laws to change, most recently in the aftermath of the victory for the campaign to repeal the eighth amendment in the Republic of Ireland.
The court's recommendation also correlates with an official report, published in April, which said abortion should be legalised in cases of fatal foetal abnormality in NI.
Polls have consistently found a significant majority of people in Northern Ireland favour reform of the abortion laws. Last year one survey found that 73% of respondents thought abortion should be legal if foetuses have a serious or fatal abnormality and 78% thought abortion should be legal when women have become pregnant as a result of rape or incest.
