Women unite for oppressed sisters

FIFTY years has passed since the Abortion Act of 1967 became law. Free, safe and legal access to abortion services, albeit within strict limitations, were offered, for the first time ever, to women in England, Scotland and Wales.

The legislation recognised that every woman has an inalienable right to choose when or whether they wanted to have children.

However, this does not extend to Northern Ireland, which mysteriously clings for dear life to legislation passed way back in 1861. In fact, seeking or assisting an abortion can earn citizens a lifetime of “penal servitude”.

Although unlikely that life imprisonment would be a sentence handed down these days, it is still extraordinary that prosecutions still occur to this day on the basis of archaic legislation.

Only last year a Belfast woman was handed a suspended sentence for taking an abortion pill in her home; even more recently a woman was convicted on the charge of obtaining similar abortion pills for her daughter, following a police tip-off from her GP.

There isn’t even an exception in the case of particularly sensitive foetal abnormalities, where the baby cannot survive outside the womb. The only plausible alternative for women is to travel to Britain and pay for an abortion, costing up to £2,000 when including factors such as transport and accommodation costs.

Women’s rights are increasingly under threat by mercurial regimes who exploit social issues as a means to assert power and distract citizens from political scandals.

A proactive women’s strike in Poland just nine months ago defeated proposals for a nearabsolute ban on abortion access.

This legislation would have imprisoned women who have an abortion, along with doctors who assist the procurement of services.

Many thousands of Polish women took part. Solidarity protests were also observed in Berlin, London, Brussels and Paris.

Women’s strikes might not be the immediate solution to systemic oppression, but they are a good start in bringing together women of all walks of life to exchange ideas, and take united action to further women’s rights causes in Northern Ireland and beyond.