Everywhere you look

abortion is in the news

~~~~~~~~~~~Ireland, Spain, UK

Marge Berer

Editor, Reproductive Health Matters

~~~~~~~~~~

25 September 2014

UK: a little history

Abortion is still in the criminal law but almost no

woman who requests an abortion is denied it unless

she is over the legal time limit.

After the 1967 Act was passed, the anti-abortion

movement tried again and again to restrict the law,

unsuccessfully, and when the Corrie Bill was defeated

in 1980, lost its power inside and outside Parliament.

Numerous attempts through private members bills

and other tactics, even by show woman Nadine

Dorries, have failed, and I believe any attempt to

attack the core of our abortion legislation would fail.

Anti-abortion tactics (= being in the news) are now

focused on picketing clinics, media stories distorting

the facts and sensationalising the issues, making

false claims such as abortion=breast cancer and…

…Seeking to stigmatise certain abortions

While the anti-abortion movement has failed to restrict

the law, those of us in the abortion rights movement

have also not managed to extend the law to Northern

Ireland, take abortion out of the criminal law or make it

legal at the request of the woman (last big attempt –

HFEA Act amendments 2008).

Meanwhile, the strategy of attacking certain grounds

for abortion has been a powerful one, mainly because

the law allows only specific grounds and time limits and

outside those, there is still the threat of prosecution, as

in most countries. One woman in jail in England now.

Recent attacks include: sex selection, fetal anomaly,

time limits (12-20-22-24 weeks), midwives in Glasgow

seeking to extend the definition of conscientious

objection, and restrictions on doctors pre-signing

forms.

STOP PRESS Northern Ireland

New Health Minister Jim Wells appointed Tuesday 22

Sept in a Cabinet reshuffle.

2 years ago he opposed NI abortion laws being changed

so that rape victims could get a termination in local

hospitals. He described this as a tragic situation where

the ultimate victim was the unborn child, who should not

be punished.

“His appointment to the health brief comes as Northern

Ireland’s justice minister, David Ford, prepares a

discussion paper on whether the law on abortion should

be liberalised in the region.”

“Pro-choice campaigners are hoping that Ford’s paper

will suggest some reform of the region’s abortion laws

and have promised legal action if the status quo, the

near blanket ban on abortion, remains intact.” (Guardian,

23 Sept)

Ireland

European Court of Human Rights for 20 years passed

judgements in individual cases calling on Ireland to

change its abortion law.

Savita Halappanavar’s death in November 2012 −

following a miscarriage at 17 weeks of pregnancy that

led to septic infection after the hospital refused to

terminate it because there was a fetal heartbeat − led

to a mass response.

Rapid efforts this year led to a new law that met ECHR

requirements of allowing abortion on the grounds of

risk to the woman’s life and of suicide, and not a jot

more. At least one hospital said they would not obey

the law.

Although regulations allowing for implementation of the

law were slow to come, a test case arose quickly…

…and proved the law would fail women

Miss Y was an asylum-seeker, aged 18, tortured and

raped in her own country, who found she was

pregnant a few weeks after arriving in Ireland. She

was refused an abortion at eight weeks of pregnancy,

although she said she was suicidal.

Two psychiatrists had approved an abortion but the

obstetrician in the case said no, so it was denied. She

went on fluid and food hunger strike. She was

hospitalised for the sake of the baby, and a court order

was obtained by the obstetrician to force her to be

rehydrated.

A second court order was threatened to force her to

have a c-section at 24-25 weeks of pregnancy. A very

premature baby was delivered by c-section, and

remains in hospital.

Statements in the Irish media

Minister: We can't make decisions on abortion law

on basis of one case

The Education Minister has today rejected claims that

the new legislation on abortion is flawed. (Echo Reporter,

18 August)

Miss Y: "I was told the only way to end the pregnancy

at this point would be a Caesarean . . . They said

wherever you go in the world… anywhere, at this point

it has to be a Caesarean.“ (Irish Times, 19 August)

“Asylum seekers in Ireland have been given special

visas to go to the UK for abortions in recent years, the

Department of Justice has confirmed.” (RTE News, 23

August)

6.4 Guidance for health professionals – Protection of

life during pregnancy act 2013, 19th September 2014

Gestational age

“An important consideration in relation to the carrying

out of the medical procedure is the issue of the

gestational age of the unborn. There is no time limit

imposed by the Act in carrying out the medical

procedure. However, the Act legally requires doctors

to preserve unborn human life as far as practicable

without compromising the woman’s right to life.

Therefore, there is no specific stage of pregnancy

below which the certifying doctor will not have to

consider the possibility of preserving the life and the

dignity of the unborn where practicable without

compromising the life of the mother….”

Gestational age (continued)

“Once certification has taken place, a pregnant woman

has a right to a termination of pregnancy as soon as it

can be arranged. The clinicians responsible for her

care will need to use their clinical judgment as to the

most appropriate procedure to be carried out, in

cognisance of the constitutional protection afforded to

the unborn, i.e. a medical or surgical termination or an

early delivery by induction or Caesarean section.”

“Following certification, if the pregnancy is

approaching viability, it is recommended that a

multidisciplinary discussion takes place to ascertain

the most appropriate clinical management of the

case.”

We can look forward to further c-sections??

Protection of life during pregnancy act 2013

Irish Constitution 8th amendment is in line with

Catholic health doctrine related to pregnancy, abortion

and protection of life:

“The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn

and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the

mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far

as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that

right.” (Article 40.3.3°)

Whose life?

Spain

Spanish Government withdraws the abortion law

reform and Minister of Justice resigns

Tuesday morning, Spanish Prime Minister announced

that the government had withdrawn its controversial

abortion bill, due to a “lack of consensus”.

The bill, which was approved by the Council of

Ministers in Dec 2013, has been heavily criticised in

Spain and internationally.

The Minister of Justice, Alberto Ruiz Gallardon, who

fiercely defended his reform despite the opposition it

caused nationally and internationally, resigned from his

position as Minister, his seat in the parliament and his

political party, after the announcement was made,

saying his political life had come to an end. (Statement,

Alianza por la Solidaridad, 24 September)

A demonstration against the Spanish government's

controversial bid to curb abortion rights in central

Madrid, International Women's Day, 8 March 2014,

RTE News 23 Sept 2014

An historical first

This is the first time I am aware of that a government

with a parliamentary majority has decided to withdraw

a bill restricting abortion due to the extent of public

opposition.

No room for complacency

The war on abortion, which is a war on women’s

autonomy, is far from over, and if I had a week I could

talk non-stop about what that means in country after

country around the world.

Much of what I have reported here has taken place in

the past month and much of it this week alone.

As Ireland has shown, the opposition is incredibly

powerful and has the inertia of the status quo and

powerful institutions on their side.

As Spain has shown, we have to be ready at a

minute’s notice. The success there was not due to

luck, but unprecedented coalition building and mass

organisation.

References

International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe

Abortion

www.safeabortionwomensright.org

Abortion in the criminal law: exposing the role of

health professionals, the police, the courts and

imprisonment internationally

http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/wp-

content/uploads/2013/05/Abortion-in-the-criminal-law-

16-Oct-2013.pdf

References

Termination of pregnancy as emergency obstetric

care: the interpretation of Catholic health policy and

the consequences for pregnant women. An analysis of

the death of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland and

similar cases.

Reproductive Health Matters 2013;21(41):9-17.

Doi: 10.1016/S0968-8080(13)41711-1

From hospital to jail: the impact of El Salvador’s total

criminalization of abortion on women.

Reproductive Health Matters 2014;22(44).