Pro-choice abortion campaigners demonstrate in Birmingham in response to the US ruling

Brum for Choice! protesters gathered outside Waterstones in Birmingham city centre at lunch time in protest to the US decision to overturn Roe v Wade legislation
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Pro-choice campaigners have made their voices heard in protest against the US decision to overturn a woman’s right to abortion.

The decision to overrule the 50 year old Roe v Wade legislation in America has been met with shock and concern among many.

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Brum for Choice! Gathered outside Waterstones in Birmingham city centre to demonstrate against the ruling.

Organiser Rhiannon Lockley said: “It’s the latest in a long line of moves to shut down reproductive rights in the US and worldwide.

“The attack on reproductive rights falls hardest on those already marginalised and impoverished.

“The fight for reproductive rights isn’t just the right to abortion, it’s the right to access resources to raise a child.

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“Solidarity with those in the US! The fight for decriminalisation of abortion is necessary in the UK too! No more imprisonment for abortion! No more punishment for abortion!”

Brum for Choice demonstrators in Birmingham city centre against US ruling to overturn abortion rightsBrum for Choice demonstrators in Birmingham city centre against US ruling to overturn abortion rights
Brum for Choice demonstrators in Birmingham city centre against US ruling to overturn abortion rights

Birmingham MP Jess Phillips also voiced her support for abortion rights amid the US Roe v Wade ruling being over turned in the US

The Labour MP for Yardley told how she has had an abortion on Twitter, saying: “I have had an abortion, I feel no shame or need to explain why. I am not traumatised, I was not a hard case, I was just a woman who had a choice over my own life, my own body, my own family. I am grateful I lived in a family, in a society and a legislature that supported that.”

She said she is seeking ways to assist women in the US with other members of the UK parliament.

What is Roe v Wade?

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Roe v Wade is the name of 50-year-old legislation in the US which enshrined the right to an abortion across the country.

Seven out of the nine Supreme Court judges backed the ruling back in 1973, which was hailed as a huge step forward for women’s rights.

It meant the 36 million women of reproductive age in the US could end a pregnancy during the first three months, although there were restrictions in place for abortions in the second and third trimester.

Abortion rights protests like this one have been taking place across the US, where a Supreme Court ruling removed the federal right to an abortion. Campaigners from Our Bodies, Our Streets in Sheffield have organised a rally to show their solidarity (photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)Abortion rights protests like this one have been taking place across the US, where a Supreme Court ruling removed the federal right to an abortion. Campaigners from Our Bodies, Our Streets in Sheffield have organised a rally to show their solidarity (photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Abortion rights protests like this one have been taking place across the US, where a Supreme Court ruling removed the federal right to an abortion. Campaigners from Our Bodies, Our Streets in Sheffield have organised a rally to show their solidarity (photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

What happened to this ruling?

Five of the nine Supreme Court judges in the US overturned Roe v Wade on Friday (June 27). The decision followed the court’s examination of a different case, Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organisation, which took on Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks.

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The court ruled in favour of the state, effectively drawing an end to the right to have an abortion in the US in the process. This means states now have no nationwide obligation to allow people to terminate pregnancies and can instead decide their own laws.

Thirteen have already passed trigger laws, meaning abortion is outlawed in those states, and a further 13 are expected to follow suit according to the think tank, Guttmacher Institute. It’s very rare that the Supreme Court ever U-turns on its own legal ruling, and this situation hints at the current divide in the US.

President Joe Biden has condemned the ruling, and urged women in states where abortion is forbidden to travel to those where it was not. Protests broke out when the ruling was annouced, with pro-choice supporters claiming the “illegitimate” move leaves women with two options: get illegal and unsafe abortions. or risk getting into debt by travelling elsewhere to receive the treatment they need.

As Dr Edward Morris, president of the UK’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “Limiting access to abortions won’t reduce the number of abortions happening, it will just make abortions less safe.”

How has Downing Street reacted?

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Prime minister Boris Johnson has dubbed the move a “big step backwards”, suggesting the introduction of similar legislation is not on the horizon for the UK.

Back in May, when the draft legislation to remove Roe v Wade was leaked, a No.10 spokesperson also said: “The UK fully supports women’s reproductive rights globally and including the right to access safe and legal abortion.”

Rhiannon Lockley from Brum for Choice!Rhiannon Lockley from Brum for Choice!
Rhiannon Lockley from Brum for Choice!

What are the current abortion rights in the UK?

Women in the UK still have access to free and safe abortions for the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, and beyond for medical reasons.

But, two doctors also have to sign off on an abortion and it is not a legal right.

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In fact, any woman who ends a pregnancy without the legal authorisation of two doctors can face life imprisonment under law passed in 1861.

Jess Phillips MP has called for this to change (see tweets above).

In England, Scotland and Wales, you can get an abortion if there is a risk to the life of the pregnant woman, the threat of permanent injury to her physical or mental health, or risk of injury to any existing children.

An abortion is also permitted if a child carried to full term might have “such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped”.

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In Northern Ireland, abortion is allowed on similar grounds as well as for any reason for the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy – two ruling which were only introduced in October 2019.

How many abortions happen each year in the UK?

A total of 214,256 abortions were reported in England and Wales last year, the highest since the Abortion Act was introduced in 1967.

This is an increase compared to 2020, when 210,860 were reported.

Abortions are particularly prevalent among areas where social deprivation is high – meaning as the cost of living crisis really kicks in, this number might just get higher.

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Jonathan Lord, medical director at abortion provider MSI Reproductive Choices UK, told HuffPost UK: “The data shows abortion is an essential choice, and with continuing problems accessing contraception coupled with the cost of living crisis, we would not be surprised to see greater demand over the coming months.”

 Robert Clinic on Station Road Robert Clinic on Station Road
Robert Clinic on Station Road

What about abortions in Birmingham?

Birmingham City Council is consulting the public on whether to introduce a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to stop members of Pro- Life - Pro-Choice groups protesting outside an abortion clinic in King’s Norton.

The PSPO would be implemented in the area around the Robert Clinic on Station Road, where a small number of people have gathered regularly to protest against abortion.

Selly Oak MP Steve McCabe is supporting the propsed PSPO and has written to the council to express his concerns about the protests which he says he has been aware of for three years.

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