Reproductive rights

A US woman is suing after being forced to give birth in prison showers. Pregnancy Justice, Southern Poverty Law Center and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in Alabama on behalf of a woman whose constitutional rights were violated when a US prison treated her with cruel indifference, first restricting her access to necessary medical care during her high-risk pregnancy and then ignoring her pleas for help as she delivered her baby alone in a filthy jail shower — almost losing her life. Ashley Caswell was two months into her high-risk pregnancy when she was detained...

Internationally the right's culture war is gaining ground, attacking LGBTQ people, in particular the trans community, rallying against immigration, and restricting reproductive freedoms. Working class women are at the sharp end of this assault and at the forefront of fighting back. Join us at for a day of workshops and talks to discuss where we stand and build a movement that can turn the tide. 10am-6pm + after-party until late. Pelican House, 144 Cambridge Heath Road London E1 5QJ Free childcare & London crash space on request SESSIONS (click on links for session details): • Opening Plenary...

Activists from Workers' Liberty and supporters of Solidarity will be at Labour Party conference and women's conference, 7-11 October in Liverpool. We'll be there to help the efforts of Free Our Unions, the Labour Campaign for Free Movement, the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, India Labour Solidarity, and other campaigns; to sell literature, seek discussions and contacts. There will be demonstrations for the NHS and for abortion rights on Saturday, for free education on Sunday. And agitation for a block on new North Sea oil and gas fields, following the Tories' decision to "max out" licences in...

Since January 2021, Poland has had a near-total ban on abortion. Before this, Poland already had some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, which only allowed for abortions in a small number of scenarios: if the pregnant person has been raped or the pregnancy has resulted from incest; if their life was in danger; or in cases of severe foetal abnormality. The ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal declared the last of these no longer valid. In 2020, there were approximately 1,000 legal abortions. Following the introduction of the new law, that number fell by 90%. Justyna Justyna...

In the wake of the imprisonment of Carla Foster a motion was put to Sheffield Heely Labour party for the decriminalisation of abortion. The motion included the sentence “It is vital that Labour collectively support progressive legislative change, including decriminalisation and reform to allow women and pregnant people to control their own bodies,” recognising that all pregnant people — including trans men and non-binary people — have a right to reproductive choice. An amendment was put to delete the term “pregnant people”, on the grounds that it could be seen as “offensive”. The individual...

The campaigns in the 1970s and 1980s which defeated a series of attacks on the 1967 Abortion Act offer a model that we can learn from. In 1975, the National Abortion Campaign (NAC) was set up to campaign against the White Bill, the first in a series of Private Members’ Bills in the 1970s and 80s which sought to reduce term limits. The NAC was made up of activists from the Women’s Liberation Movement, the socialist left and the labour movement, and it had two aims: to defend the Abortion Act and win real reproductive freedom. The NAC was clear that abortion was a class issue; they knew that to...

In Germany, abortion is covered by section 218 of the criminal code. It stands as an “offence against life”, alongside murder and manslaughter. It is only exempt if it is carried out during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and if the woman has received counselling from an authorised advisor and has waited three days before the procedure. Until July 2022 a significant legal obstacle to abortion was section 219a of the criminal code. This law prohibited publicly offering, announcing, or advertising abortions. In practice this meant that doctors were prevented by law from informing patients that...

In April this year, members of Workers ’ Liberty convened for our annual democratic conference. We passed this policy, launching a programme of activity campaigning for the decriminalisation of abortion, the abolition of term limits and expansion of reproductive rights. Policy barriers to safe abortion include criminalisation, mandatory waiting times, the requirement that approval must be given by other people or institutions, financial charges (e.g. for some migrants), insufficient levels of provision and limits on when during pregnancy an abortion can take place. Such barriers can lead to...

• Bodies Under Siege: How the Far-Right Attack on Reproductive Rights Went Global , by Sian Norris (Verso, 2023) In the last year, four women in the UK have been prosecuted for carrying out illegal abortions. This is especially shocking when you consider that in the 160 years prior there were only three. There has been a corresponding rise in criminal investigations, which are not only invasive and traumatic for those involved, but also suggest that further prosecutions are coming down the line. But why now? In her book, Bodies Under Siege, Sian Norris sets out the links between the rising far...

In June this year, Carla Foster was sentenced to two years in prison for having an abortion after the legal term limit of 24 weeks. The case highlighted just how limited and fragile our abortion rights are. She was sentenced under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act. This law is still the foundation of abortion law in Britain: it criminalises all abortions and carries the maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The 1967 Abortion Act legalised abortion under certain conditions, with an authorised provider. But as it didn’t repeal the 1861 Act, abortion remains illegal unless certain...