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
NSS: religious dogma must not restrict access to abortions in NI
Posted: Tue, 29 May 2018 16:49
The National Secular Society has reiterated its call for reform to Northern Ireland's abortion laws after MPs and the Labour party said the UK government should legislate on the issue.
Around 160 MPs have backed a cross-party letter, championed by Labour's Stella Creasy, which urges ministers to "ensure comprehensive access to abortion in their own country for women in Northern Ireland".
Creasy is hoping to force a vote on the issue by tabling an amendment to the forthcoming domestic violence bill.
On Tuesday shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti also called for change in the Daily Mirror.
The calls come after voters in the Republic of Ireland chose overwhelmingly to overturn the eighth amendment, which banned abortion in almost all circumstances, in a referendum on Friday. More than 66% of those who took part voted to repeal the eighth amendment to the country's constitution.
The 1967 Abortion Act, which partially decriminalised abortion in England, Wales and Scotland, does not extend to Northern Ireland. Abortion is banned in NI except where a mother's life or mental health are considered in danger.
In 2015 1,438 women in Northern Ireland purchased abortion pills from one provider alone. In contrast just 13 women had abortions in NHS hospitals in NI in 2016-17.
There is currently no executive in Northern Ireland amid an ongoing deadlock over power-sharing.
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "The human rights of women, including their access to reproductive healthcare, should never be restricted by state adherence to religious dogma.
"The resounding victory for those who campaigned to repeal the Republic of Ireland's effective ban on abortion should be a wake-up call to politicians across the UK.
"As things stand all women in Northern Ireland are subject to theocratic restrictions on their reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, whether they like it or not. They cause great misery as those who need to access healthcare have to travel to the British mainland or carry babies and give birth against their wishes and interests. The UK government has the power to change this and should use it."
The NSS has long campaigned for women in Northern Ireland to be able to access abortions. Last year we told the UN's Human Rights Council that Northern Ireland's restrictions on abortion were out of touch with international human rights norms. We said decisions on upholding human rights should not be devolved.
Religion is a crucial reason for Northern Ireland's draconian laws. DUP leader Arlene Foster has made clear that religion is a crucial reason why the party has obstructed reform. On Monday the DUP's Jim Wells said his party would use a petition of concern, a measure designed to protect the rights of minority groups, to block abortion reform if the NI assembly voted for it.
Earlier this month the SDLP voted to give its members a free vote on abortion-related issues, but it retains an official anti-choice stance.
Sinn Fein favours modest reforms to allow abortion in cases of rape, fatal foetal abnormality and where a woman's mental or physical health is under serious threat by the continuation of the pregnancy. The Ulster Unionist party and the Alliance party have said the issue is a matter of "conscience". But the Alliance has called for change in NI's laws in the aftermath of the result in the Republic of Ireland.
Northern Ireland's Green party has welcomed efforts to liberalise the law through Westminster.
Last month an official report for Northern Ireland's Departments of Health and Justice recommended allowing abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities in Northern Ireland.
And 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.
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.
Since last week's referendum Ireland's minister for health, Simon Harris, has said legislation to allow unrestricted terminations up to 12 weeks of pregnancy will be tabled before the parliamentary summer break. The proposal is now expected to be law by the autumn.
Image: London-Irish abortion rights rally, © Dmitry Dzhus, via Flickr [CC BY 2.0]
‘Pro-life’ group tries to restrict abortion pill use in Scotland
Posted: Mon, 14 May 2018 16:10
'Pro-life' campaigners have launched a court bid to block the Scottish government's decision to allow women to take the abortion pill at home.
In October Scotland's chief medical officer, Catherine Calderwood, presented plans to allow women to take the pill at home. Today SPUC Scotland, the Scottish division of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, has begun an attempt to secure a judicial review into the policy.
A two-day hearing is underway at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
Leaders in Scotland's Catholic Church have been among the most prominent opponents of the Scottish government's plans. In November eight bishops asked Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, for "renewed discussions" on the issue. They added that they would "speak up for the intrinsic value of human life and the good of both the child in the womb and its mother".
Abortion responsibilities were devolved to Scotland in 2016. In October the public health minister, Aileen Campbell, said the Scottish government would make its changes under existing abortion laws.
Pressure is mounting for ministers elsewhere in the UK to follow its lead. In March feminist campaigners wrote to Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary with responsibility for England, and Vaughan Gething, the health secretary in Wales, to urge them to allow women to take the abortion pill at home. Last month Gething said officials were looking at how the law could be amended in Wales.
Medical advice supports the case for change. The World Health Organisation says there is "no evidence" that medical abortions at home are "less effective, safe or acceptable" than clinic-based medical abortion. In 2007 a report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee said research had shown that "self-administration of misoprostol at home is safe, effective and acceptable".
Most abortions which take place in the UK are medical procedures, which involve taking two medicines in the early stages of a pregnancy. Under current rules in England and Wales women may only take the second drug (misoprostol, which induces miscarriage) in a clinic or hospital. As a result many have to travel home while it is taking effect.
Medical abortions accounted for 62% of total abortions in England and Wales in 2016. Almost three-quarters of terminations in Scotland were carried out at less than nine weeks' gestation and 89% of these were medical procedures.
Abortion is currently only allowed in Northern Ireland if a woman's life is at risk or there is a risk of permanent and serious damage to her mental or physical health. Last month an official report from the Departments of Health and Justice in NI strongly criticised current restrictions on terminations in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities.
National Secular Society chief executive Stephen Evans said policy on abortion "should be led by medical evidence, not religious groups' attempts to enforce their dogma on others".
In 2011 the British Pregnancy Advisory Service failed in a High Court bid to make the government allow women take the abortion pill at home.
Image: Law courts entrance at Parliament House in Edinburgh, where the Court of Session sits. © Kim Traynor, via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0]
