Reproductive rights

Women's Fightback: Anti-choice MP becomes Women’s Minister

Maria Caulfield, a Tory MP who supported cutting the abortion time limit and voted against legalising abortion in Northern Ireland, has been named as the minister for women. Caulfield, the MP for Lewes, was previously a member of parliamentary “pro-life” group, stating that she wants to be a “voice for the unborn child”. In voting against buffer zones around abortion clinics she explained those accused of harassing women wishing to access abortion services may in fact be trying to “comfort” people. “For me, the definition of what’s harassment is open to interpretation. That’s my concern —...

Roe v. Wade and the fight for democracy

On Friday 23 June the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the first time in history the Supreme Court has overturned one of its own rulings in order to roll back the rights of citizens. Roe v. Wade was a 1973 ruling that established federal protection for abortion rights on the grounds that abortion is ultimately a private decision between a patient and healthcare providers. The right to privacy is widely recognised as being implied by the liberty clause in the 14th amendment of the US constitution, so the right to abortion must also be protected at the federal level. The 1973 court ruled...

As late as necessary

Abortion rights protest in Argentina Our demand should be: abortion as early as possible and as late as necessary. Not only must we reject the right’s demand that the first detectable “heartbeat” (electrical flickers in foetal tissue) be the cut-off, we must also reject the far more mainstream limit of foetal viability (currently estimated at approximately 24 weeks). The truth is that pregnancy and foetal development are a continuum, not a set of fixed stages, and foetal viability will change with technological and medical advances. With the development of artificial wombs which could save...

Women, class struggle and the crisis in Sri Lanka

From March 2022, Sri Lanka was convulsed by protests against collapsing living standards and state authoritarianism, leading in July to the resignation of right-wing nationalist president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Niyanthini Kadirgamar, a member of Sri Lanka’s Feminist Collective for Economic Justice, explains how the current crisis in her country intersects with women’s oppression and women’s – particularly working-class women’s – struggles. The Feminist Collective for Economic Justice is a network collective of feminist economists, scholars, activists, university students and lawyers, working in...

Delhi's early years workers rise up

Between 31 January and 9 March many thousands of workers in the “anganwadi” early years childcare system of the Indian capital Delhi struck for higher pay, to be recognised as full public employees and other demands. In March their strike was declared illegal; hundreds of workers have now been sacked and thousands threatened with disciplinary action. The Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union has since organised a wave of protests, and says it will be restarting the strike. There have also been struggles by anganwadi workers in many other parts of India. At the end of July workers...

Social reproduction and the roots of transphobia

Substantially longer version of this piece here As revolutionary socialists, we fight for the expansion of freedom and human flourishing, and seek to rid our world of oppression and discrimination. We stand in solidarity with the downtrodden, champion individual self-determination and bodily autonomy, and organise to empower people to take control of their own lives. For all these reasons and more, we fight for the liberation of trans, nonbinary, intersex, and gender non-conforming people. This struggle flows naturally from our liberatory principles and our commitment to solidarity, combined...

Big anti-abortion march in London

The anti-abortion group “March for Life UK” held their annual march and rally in London on 3 September under the banner “10 Million Too Many”. This year was bigger than 2021 (they claimed 7,000), with the objective: to stop all abortions. They credit the overturning of Roe v Wade in the US for the boost. M4LUK, likely in a bid to win over young people with otherwise socially progressive views, has adopted a pernicious identity politics, painting abortion as racist and an affront to feminism. M4LUK simultaneously appeals to men about “authentic masculinity”, making out men’s rights and freedoms...

The Catholic leftist who fired anti-abortion protest

Above: John Cavanaugh-O'Keefe One aspect of the American anti-abortion movement that is seldom remarked upon is how its initial leaders came not from the evangelical right, but rather from the Catholic left. This is not to say that Catholic leftists pioneered American anti-abortionist politics in general. Rather, left-wing Catholic radicals in the 1970s spearheaded anti-abortionism as a modern, confrontational, street-level protest movement characterised by direct action. The key figure here is John O’Keefe. Born in 1950 to an Irish-American family who lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland, O’Keefe’s...

Fightback for choice

The 24 June Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was the culmination of a long term reactionary campaign to strike down the constitutional right to an abortion in America. This anti-choice movement captured strategic parts of the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, but its roots run far deeper into US communities. Through churches, lobbying groups, and political organisations, backed by donations from reactionary millionaires, the US right has developed consistent day to day activism over decades. The left has had explosions of activity with big protests, but little ongoing work...

USA rolls back women’s rights

On Friday 23 June the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade: the first time in history the Supreme Court has overturned one of its own rulings in order to roll back the rights of citizens. Roe v Wade was a 1973 ruling that established federal protection for abortion rights on the grounds that abortion is ultimately a private decision between a patient and healthcare providers. The right to privacy is widely recognised as being implied by the liberty clause in the 14th amendment of the US constitution, so the right to abortion must also be protected at the federal level. The 1973 court ruled...

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