Tag: Abortion Rights Scotland

Abortion is Healthcare. Decriminalise Abortion Now!

TODAY – RALLY OUTSIDE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT from 12.30 – 1.30pm

The Abortion Rights Scotland campaign will be joined by Engender and representatives of other organisations to call for decriminalisation of abortion care in Scotland.

MSPs have been invited to come outside to talk with us. 

Abortion healthcare has been in the headlines again. In Scotland, although the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 does not apply, our abortion services are framed by the 1967 Abortion Act.

Audrey Brown, retired NHS abortion care consultant said: “Abortion care in Scotland is delivered through the NHS. It is time for abortion care to be regulated by healthcare organisations and providers.

“No-one needing an abortion, or indeed the NHS staff providing abortion healthcare, should be at risk of imprisonment.’ 

The World Health Organisation, along with all the relevant professional health bodies in the UK, and other organisations such as the STUC, all support  decriminalisation. 

The removal of criminal sanctions and oversight for abortion will shift abortion care clearly into being managed and regulated within healthcare provisions more generally. 

In Scotland the vast majority of these services are provided by the NHS. The WHO recommends that nurses and midwives oversee abortion care.

The 1967 legal requirements for signatures from two doctors for every termination carried out, can cause delay for both staff and patients. 

The First Minister, Humza Yousaf MSP, indicated during the SNP leadership campaign that he supported decriminalisation and would bring forward proposals on this within a year. 

It’s time to decriminalise abortion care in Scotland.

Abortion Rights Scotland marks anniversary of legal abortions in UK

ACTIVISTS marked the anniversary of the enactment of the 1967 Abortion Act, which legalised abortion in Britain, at an event on Lothian Road yesterday.

Also marking the significant date, but for different reasons, were pro-life group SPUC, who held a simultaneous Pro-life Chain event.

Abortion Rights Scotland’s Audrey Brown (above) said: “NHS Scotland has long supported women to make their own choices about pregnancy.

“Abortion care is extremely safe, and in fact is safer than continuing a pregnancy. NHS doctors, nurses and midwives working in abortion care are trained to provide a safe and supportive service.

“The majority of women now choose early medical abortion in the privacy of their own home. Restricting access to abortion won’t stop abortion, it will push it underground and make it less safe.

“We must continue to support free, safe and legal NHS abortion care.”

A number of politicians showed their support at the demo. Among them were Edinburgh East MP Tommy Sheppard.

PICTURES: Craig MacLean

Abortion Rights Scotland – supporting safe, legal, NHS abortion services

Saturday 22nd April Edinburgh 11am-1pm

THIS MORNING (Saturday), Abortion Rights Scotland is celebrating the fifty-fifth anniversary of the date the 1967 Abortion Act became law in England, Scotland, and Wales, from eleven am to 1pm on Lothian Road Edinburgh – Usher Hall side – because on the other side of the road, SPUC (the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child) are holding their protest against access safe, legal, local abortion, provided and delivered by the NHS. 

The SPUC protest against safe legal abortion and the feminist celebration of the Abortion Act, are both now in their tenth year – two years missed because of lockdown.

Audrey Brown, retired NHS abortion care consultant, says: “NHS Scotland has long supported women to make their own choices about pregnancy.

 “Abortion care is extremely safe, and in fact is safer than continuing a pregnancy. NHS doctors, nurses and midwives working in abortion care are trained to provide a safe and supportive service.

“The majority of women now choose early medical abortion in the privacy of their own home. Restricting access to abortion won’t stop abortion, it will push it underground and make it less safe. We must continue to support free, safe and legal NHS abortion care.”

The counter-vigil against the anti-abortion protest, is both in support of the continuing right to safe, legal, local abortion in Scotland, provided and delivered by the NHS, but also standing with people in countries like Poland and the United States, where the anti-abortion movement has achieved its goal of denying free access to safe legal abortion.

SPUC’s frequent assertion is that they want to make this essential reproductive healthcare “unthinkable” – and most people in Scotland oppose that goal.

SPUC has organised a ‘Pro Life Chain’ event from 11am – 1pm

Organisers say: ‘Remember the lives hurt and lost through abortion by attending SPUC’s 2023 Pro-Life Chain. This peaceful act of witness spreads the message that abortion kills unborn children and hurts women and families.’