This talk on abortion was well attended and Fiona, who has spent several decades involved in reproductive health including abortion in the UK and the developing world, put women and families at the heart of this presentation.

Before the 1967 Abortion Act which allowed abortion up to 28 weeks’ gestation, abortion was a leading cause of maternal mortality in the UK. The UK law nevertheless requires the signature of two medical doctors. The time limit was subsequently reduced in 1990 to 24 weeks’ gestation in response to medical advances. But as Fiona pointed out, only 0.1% of all abortions are carried out at this late stage and recent data show that most abortions are under 10 weeks. The prevalence is now declining in the UK (especially among women younger than 30 years – though not among older women). 98% of abortions are paid by the NHS. Lacking access to safe abortion in Ireland, a few thousand women travel to the UK every year, while others obtain abortion pills from the internet. Fiona noted that although abortion pills are the most commonly used method in the UK they ought to have medical supervision. A referendum will soon determine whether the law in Ireland will be liberalised.

In the developing world especially where Catholicism is dominant and family planning services inadequate, unsafe abortions continue unabated contributing to up to 18% of maternal deaths. In Asia particularly, there are many unsafe or bogus abortifacient products sold across the counter. Bangladesh is a unique example where government policy enables women to have “menstrual regulation” or MR (up to 10 weeks) even though abortion per se is not legal. MR was introduced to help women made pregnant by Pakistan soldiers during the war for Independence from Pakistan. “Bringing back periods” became an acceptable way to deal with unwanted pregnancy.

Despite vast improvements to women’s access to reproductive health services in poor countries, the ‘Global Gag Rule’ re-imposed by Trump on his first day in office, has removed over US$9 billion of US aid funding for reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, malaria and nutrition programming. This is already having a devastating impact on the poorest women. ‘She Decides’ is a Dutch initiative that is now bringing governments and agencies together to leverage funds to fill some of this gap, but is only a small proportion of the need.

In the context of recent negative publicity of the aid industry, Fiona expressed concern that the UK Aid budget is potentially vulnerable. She suggested that lobbying our local MP and supporting organisations that lobby for change or give practical aid to women in developing countries are options for us all.

The Q&A was extremely active, with questions relating to HIV, the confidence UK young people now have in seeking family planning advice, the role of education both here and abroad, the urban/rural divide and the importance of non-governmental organisations among others. (Summary: Celia Allaby)

Please note: A report by the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group was published just after Fiona’s talk. Fiona recommends it to anyone interested in reading further on this issue. It is entitled: ‘Who Decides? We Trust Women’. APPG, March 2018. Download from: http://www.appg-popdevrh.org.uk/APPG 2018 AW.PDF