Latest news with #prochoice
The Guardian
a day ago
- Health
- The Guardian
TfL blocks ads calling on people to lobby MPs to decriminalise abortion
Transport for London has blocked adverts that urge people to lobby their MPs to vote to decriminalise abortion from running on its network because it claims they could bring the police and City Hall into disrepute. Parliament is expected to vote on whether to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in the coming weeks, with amendments tabled to the criminal justice bill seeking to change the law. The adverts from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) charity, which have been approved by the Advertising Standards Authority, have appeared on display boards across England and Wales. They feature anonymised case studies of women who have been investigated by police, and in some cases prosecuted, after terminations or pregnancy loss. 'The language is not inflammatory, derogatory or hateful,' Bpas said in a letter to TfL, seen by the Guardian. 'It is an accurate representation of real women's experiences. It is intentionally simple, to the point, with a clear democratic call to action.' In 2024, campaign material from Dignity in Dying was displayed on the TfL network, including in Westminster tube station. In the same year, it allowed pro-choice campaign material on buses across London, sponsored by Doctors for Choice and Abortion Talk, which featured the slogan 'abortion is healthcare, not a crime'. At the time, a TfL spokesperson said: 'We reviewed this advertising campaign against both our advertising policy and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code, and it was found to be compliant.' Bpas said it had requested 'an immediate in-depth explanation of the decision to reject our material' from the transport body. In a response from TfL, also seen by the Guardian, Chris Reader, the organisation's head of commercial media, told the charity: 'The reason for the rejection is that the proposed advertisement makes serious allegations about the police. 'The Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (Mopac) is a member of the GLA group and one of its functions is to hold the Metropolitan police service (MPS) commissioner to account for the police service in London.' He added that 'because Mopac's functions in respect of the MPS are to some extent regulatory', the 'nature of the copy could bring Mopac into disrepute, given its responsibilities in relation to the MPS'. Bpas's chief executive, Heidi Stewart, said the charity intended to appeal against the decision by the transport body. 'At a pivotal moment for abortion law reform in this country, TfL regulations have silenced the voices of women who have been left utterly traumatised by our archaic legislation and by those enforcing it,' Stewart said. 'This cannot be allowed to happen again. Women deserve to have their stories told – and the public has a right to hear them. We will be challenging this decision at the highest levels.' Tonia Antoniazzi, one of the Labour MPs putting forward an amendment aiming to change the law, said she was 'stunned' by the decision to ban the adverts from the network, adding it was an attempt to 'silence desperate women's voices and dodge accountability'. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion She added: 'In the last month, we've heard how police forced through the prosecution of a woman for abortion offences, have issued guidance telling police to search the homes of women who've had stillbirths, and that decisions about enforcement on abortion are made at the highest levels of the Met. 'It's not hard to see why they wouldn't want the public to know. It's not these women's stories that bring the police into disrepute – it's their own actions.' Antoniazzi's amendment, which would remove women from the criminal law related to abortion in England and Wales, is backed by charities, trade unions, and medical colleges, including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists as well as Bpas. 'The police cannot be trusted with abortion law – nor can the CPS or the wider criminal justice system,' she said. 'My amendment NC1 to the crime and policing bill will give us the urgent change we need to protect women.' A separate amendment, put forward by another Labour backbencher, Stella Creasy, seeks to decriminalise abortion, as well as write into law a human right to access abortion. A TfL spokesperson said: 'The proposed advertisement did not comply with TfL advertising policy because it made negative references about the police.'
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Telegraph
Farage to scrap net zero to fund giveaway for families
In a bid to 'make the family a more important element of British life', Mr Farage pledged to introduce a new transferable tax allowance for married people. This would exempt one half of the couple from paying tax on the first £25,000 of their earnings, according to the Daily Mail. At the moment, working people pay the basic rate of income tax on everything between £12,570 and £50,270. Asked if he wanted to see the marriage rate go up and the divorce rate go down, Mr Farage joked: 'I am not the Pope.' But he said there was plenty of evidence that showed children who grow up in stable families where parents remain married 'do better in life'. He also attacked current abortion laws, arguing it was 'ludicrous' that a premature baby can be saved at 22 weeks while some terminations are allowed at 24 weeks. However, he stressed that this was his personal view and not official Reform policy. Asked if he would be in favour of changing the limits, he said: 'I genuinely believe these are issues of personal conscience. I am pro-choice. 'But I think it is ludicrous, utterly ludicrous, that we can allow abortion up to 24 weeks and yet if a child is born prematurely at 22 weeks your local hospital will move heaven and earth and probably succeed in that child surviving and going on and living a normal life. 'I believe there is an inconsistency in the law. I believe it is totally out of date. I wouldn't particularly want anyone around me to agree with that or disagree with that. I would leave it up to them. I think our current situation on this is irrational.' Sentence was 'absolutely excessive' Mr Farage also said Lucy Connolly, a mother jailed for a tweet about the Southport attacks, should not be in prison. Connolly, a former childminder and the wife of a Conservative councillor, was jailed for 31 months in October after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred. Mr Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said the sentence was 'absolutely excessive'. 'I want to make it absolutely clear: Lucy Connolly should not be in prison,' he told a party event in central London on Tuesday. 'The sentence that was given to her was absolutely excessive and while she should not have said what she said, understand there were millions of mothers at that moment in time after Southport feeling exactly the same way.' Judges threw out an appeal brought by Connolly, 42, last week, meaning she will not be released before August.
Sky News
5 days ago
- General
- Sky News
Nigel Farage says it is 'utterly ludicrous' to allow abortion up to 24 weeks
Nigel Farage has said it is "utterly ludicrous" to allow abortion up to 24 weeks and the law is "totally out of date". The Reform UK leader said he believes abortion and assisted dying are "issues of personal conscience". Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Mr Farage said: "I am pro-choice, but I think it's ludicrous, utterly ludicrous that we can allow abortion up to 24 weeks. "And yet, if a child is born prematurely at 22 weeks, your local hospital will move heaven and earth and probably succeed in that child surviving and going on and living a normal life. "So I believe there is an inconsistency in the law. I believe it is totally out of date." He also said he would leave it up to people to "agree with that or disagree with that". Mr Farage made the comments after calling for the two-child benefit cap to be scrapped and to make it easier and cheaper for people in the UK to have more children. It is not the first time Mr Farage has said the law on abortion should be looked at. 1:53 When unveiling former Tory minister Andrea Jenkyns as Reform's latest recruit in November, he said parliament should be allowed more time "to debate things that people at home talk about" when asked about the assisted dying bill, which he voted against. Unprompted, he said: "Is 24 weeks right for abortion, given that we now save babies at 22? "That to me would be worthy of a debate in parliament but should that be along party lines? I don't think so." Mr Farage has previously worked with the US-based Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an influential group on the US Christian right and part of a global network of evangelical groups behind the repeal of Roe v Wade in the US. The US Supreme Court ruling that gave women the constitutional right to abortion was overturned in 2022. ADF's UK arm has publicly argued against decriminalising abortion. Mr Farage was quoted in a statement from the ADF in November - when he commented on abortion - as saying "the crackdown on free expression within the UK is becoming very sinister".
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Spanberger talks affordability, abortion, guns and right-to-work in Norfolk
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Welcomed by about 200 people chanting her name, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger took the stage Friday afternoon at a downtown Norfolk restaurant in her Democratic bid to become Virginia's first woman governor. The theme for her appearance at Brothers Restaurant was making the Commonwealth more affordable. 'I hear from people who are impacted by the challenges we are facing in affordability here in the Commonwealth,' Spanberger said, 'whether it's at the pharmacy counter, the grocery store, when they get their energy bill or on the housing market.' Spanberger outlined her positions on important issues while facing the media prior to the event. Virginia has been a right-to-work state for decades, meaning workers cannot be forced to join a labor union. Spanberger told WAVY sister station WRIC earlier this month she would consider 'reform' to right-to-work. 8News Exclusive: Abigail Spanberger says she won't sign bill to fully repeal Virginia's right-to-work law 'I do not support a full repeal of the right-to-work statute here in Virginia,' Spanberger said, adding that she would be in favor of allowing state employees to be able to collectively bargain. The mother of three said she supports a woman's right to choose. 'I am pro-choice, and I think that those decisions should be left between a woman and her doctor,' Spanberger said. 'I support the constitutional amendment that is moving forward in Virginia that would enshrine that right.' Spanberger said she carried a firearm as a CIA operations officer for nine years. She favors red-flag laws that would restrict gun ownership for people in crisis. 'People with access to firearms in the middle of a mental health crisis frequently turn that firearm on themselves, on a domestic partner, or in many cases, the law enforcement officer responding to a 911 call,' she said. 'And so I support red flag laws.' Recent polls have Spanberger with a lead over Republican candidate, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, but Spanberger said 'it's still early and I'm not taking anything for granted.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The right to abortion is under threat in Britain. Secure it now – or risk losing it
Opening the Pandora's box of abortion reform is something no one should do without the confidence that they are able to manage the resulting chaos. Moves to decriminalise abortion, in response to the continued prosecution of women for having one, could unintentionally enable the restriction of access under a future regressive government. To prevent this and protect services, it is time to write into our statute that safe and legal access to abortion is a human right across our nation. It still shocks many people to realise that in 2025 abortion is not actually legal for most of the UK. Only in Northern Ireland do women have a right to an abortion. Everywhere else they are exempted from prosecution if it is determined they have met certain access conditions. This is not a quaint jurisprudence debate – it is driving the explosion in recent years of investigations and prosecutions of women and girls for having abortions in England. A vulnerable 15-year-old girl who didn't know she was pregnant and had a late-term miscarriage found a police constable at her hospital bed. Others have spent years under suspicion and investigation, and in some cases in jail. These cases, and the chilling effect they have on services, come at a time when the anti-abortion movement is turning its attention to our shores. Millions of pounds is flowing into campaigning and networking, pushing not for an explicit end to services but 'safeguards' – all ruses to make getting a termination harder. Incendiary language abounds, as decriminalisation is claimed to mean 'abortion at birth'. The US vice-president, JD Vance, has openly criticised our buffer zones that protect women going to clinics from harassment as 'anti free speech'. Ever the opportunist, Nigel Farage has argued parliament should debate a reduction in the time limit under which women can secure a termination. At the heart of this is a simple premise – women cannot be trusted to make decisions about their own bodies and should be policed accordingly. I recognise the appeal of simple solutions to stop the prosecutions – including using the upcoming policing bill to insert a clause removing women from the application of the 18-century act that puts having an abortion on a par with assaulting a clergyman, bigamy and manslaughter. But in our toxic political environment this is to play Russian roulette with abortion access. It is a standard feature of any legislation that it gives the right to make secondary regulations to government about the topics in the bill – the Henry VIII powers that are the mainstay of executive overreach. Inserting the issue of abortion into any act of parliament without directing what happens next is like handing a future government a loaded gun to point at women's rights – if passed, this would give powers to restrict or even end access to abortion with minimal democratic opportunity to intervene. This risk doesn't mean we shouldn't act. The battle to provide abortion at all in Northern Ireland began in earnest once we passed a law requiring the secretary of state to deliver treatment as a human right. Resistance came not just from the Democratic Unionist party, but also from those charged with delivery, including the civil service and healthcare departments. The secretary of state had to intervene or face direct censure. That meant when those in positions of power used their role to prevent services from being set up, ministers knocked heads together and got things moving again. We can learn from this now in protecting existing services such as buffer zones and shape future provision too. It is time that women in Birmingham, Bristol and Barry had the same constitutionally protected right as women in Belfast to a safe medical treatment if they choose not to continue a pregnancy. This week we will lay an alternative amendment to the policing bill that doesn't just repeal the antiquated criminal law and free women from the threat of prosecution. It also puts in place a plan for what happens next – an explicit human rights framework to ensure safe access and prevent the rolling back of abortion rights, whoever is in power. It would not alter the settled time limit for a termination, nor would it prevent prosecution of anyone who forces a woman to have an abortion. It would mean, for the first time in history, women here could point to their right to choose – and demand it is protected, as it is in France, Mexico, Colombia and Ireland. Any subsequent regulation affecting how abortions are provided, or equally importantly the work of those who offer them, would also have to uphold this human right too. Crucially in our febrile political climate, this amendment comes with a democratic lock to prevent the use of secondary legislative powers to change these rights. If a future government wanted to destroy abortion provision it would have to get the consent of the whole parliament – giving all citizens the ability to lobby their MP accordingly. Pandora's box contained both chaos and hope – getting these proposals right could not only prevent further attacks on women's rights, but also finally put abortion access here on the health and human rights footing it deserves. Stella Creasy is the Labour and Cooperative MP for Walthamstow
