RIP The right of a woman to choose

MaizieD

Those of you who are saying that the UK isn't like the US aren't thinking it through enough.

There is nothing to stop the government changing the way that judges are appointed so as to make judges political appointments, as they are in the US. Our current government is engaged in enacting all sorts of outrageous legislation, has a compliant majority of MPs who are willing to hand them more and more power and is placing friends in high places in an effort to secure the UK as a tory fiefdom. If you haven't discovered that yet I'd advise you to wake up.

Once judges are politicised they become agents of the state. The potential for banning abortion, same sex marriage, anything that they don't like, becomes more likely and judges will interpret such laws in the way the state wants them too.

Don't think it couldn't happen here, because it could.

We never thought that we would walk into a fascist dictatorship, but we're well on the way now. Poor people and foreign people are their current targets. Women could be next...

P.S I don't think that yesterday's by election results make much difference. Johnson won't go and his masters, the ERG, will have their way.

My middle name is Cassandra, BTW...

I totally agree with this. It’s scary. I can’t sleep. The uk is much more affiliated with USA culture than European now.
The software company used to provide services to majority of primary care has just been sold off to an American firm my son has informed me.

www.reuters.com/markets/deals/optum-uk-buy-healthcare-software-provider-emis-15-bln-2022-06-17/

70 to 80% of Americans are pro-abortion. This kind of ruling being forced on the majority is the type of action that brings a country to civil war.

?

openDemocracy
@openDemocracy
·
38m
“No civil right is truly safe as long the current politicised US Supreme Court continues to reshape the law to conform to the goals of authoritarian white Christians.”

Such a retrograde step, so much concern about the unborn child, if only those people who seek to make life incredibly difficult for women, could put their efforts into shoring up the lives of the children already here born into disadvantage and poverty. A veiled threat about contraception and gay marriage coming down the line absolutely shocking! Being brought up a Catholic I'm familiar with all of that, on reaching an age of reasoning we and my contemporaries worked out that it was just another way a hierarchy of men seek to to control women, but of course like most others in similar circumstances we happily had the choice as adults to simply ignore such edicts which were totally irrelevant and unworkable in our lives.

Shocked. Angry. All the energy by women and men who supported them put into the landmark decision, and now the clock is being turned back.

And we can be sure that many of those in power, with money, will vote for the ending of abortion state by state, will make sure that any "Inconvenient Event" in their own family will be privately taken care of (off public medical records).

Sadly if a young girl gets pregnant, in some states its allows the MAN who got her pregnant rights to marry her.
So her abuser/rapist then becomes her husband. Who can abuse her and rape her at his leisure. I know there are steps in between but often times the rights of the young girl are not considered and for bible belt communities unmarried mothers are a firm NO as is abortion.
Im sure there's a documentary on iplayer about this. Very very sad.
Draconian in my view.

It can’t be about the welfare of the child because their concern for the child seems to end at birth.

This is all about control over women.

Callistemon21

^Unlike some grans on here, I don’t think the rights to abortion in the UK will be in any way eroded. JRM may well not agree with abortion, that is his right, but I think his views are simply his views, and not in any way likely to be enacted in this country.^
I agree, maddyone, that it will not change anything here in the UK.
JR-M is an unprogressive Catholic and is not representative of most MPs

Isn’t he involved with a company that manufactures the morning after pill anyway ( I need to Google it in case me memory is incorrect).

Depressing piece of information.

Jo Maugham
@JolyonMaugham
It's not possible to 'secure' rights in the UK because under our constitution any Government can change any of them. The securest rights we had were probably those protected under the Human Rights Act, which the Government plans to repeal.

Loathsome, retrograde right-wing Christian ideology in place of dispassionate judgements.

mokryna ironically enough, the Taliban, along with all of Islam, permit abortions.

I agree with those who urge vigilance in the UK. This decision is a direct result of having a political process for appointing judges, which is what Johnson et al are working towards.

I’m not anti abortion, but I am very uncomfortable with abortion on demand up to 24 weeks for social
reasons ( house too small etc ) that just doesn’t seem right.
I know abortion will never be banned here in the UK but I do think the law needs tightening.
Abortion up to 12 weeks and after that only in extreme circumstances.

DiamondLily

They will just cross state lines. Irish women used to come over here for abortions.

My ex sister in law, who lived in Cork, Ireland, did it 3 times.

Not so easy for anyone with hardly any - or no -cash to spare, though. As usual it’s the poorer people who will be worst affected.

I know abortion will never be banned here in the UK.

That's quite a statement.

Its just been banned in several states in the US. They probably thought it would never happen either.

MayBee70

Callistemon21

Unlike some grans on here, I don’t think the rights to abortion in the UK will be in any way eroded. JRM may well not agree with abortion, that is his right, but I think his views are simply his views, and not in any way likely to be enacted in this country.
I agree, maddyone, that it will not change anything here in the UK.
JR-M is an unprogressive Catholic and is not representative of most MPs

Isn’t he involved with a company that manufactures the morning after pill anyway ( I need to Google it in case me memory is incorrect).

Well I never!!
Does he know or are his fingers in so many pies he didn't realise?

volver

^I know abortion will never be banned here in the UK.^

That's quite a statement.

Its just been banned in several states in the US. They probably thought it would never happen either.

I do think that fundamentalist Christians have more of a sway in the States than they ever would here.

Besides which, The US Supreme Court consists of nine judges, six of whom are Catholic. That is not representative of the population as a whole.

Are people concerned that we will re introduce the death penalty or experience regular school shootings. I just find it quite an odd reaction.

I am concerned about the re-introduction of the death penalty in the UK. I have avoided saying that recently on posts because I expect there will be several people who will pipe up with how it is justified in certain circumstances. Our own dear Home Secretary has appeared on TV saying what a good thing the death penalty is.

At the moment with this government, anything is possible. Get shot of them and then we need a national conversation about where we are going as a country. Things like the constitution , NHS, HRA, etc..

Kandinsky

I’m not anti abortion, but I am very uncomfortable with abortion on demand up to 24 weeks for social
reasons ( house too small etc ) that just doesn’t seem right.
I know abortion will never be banned here in the UK but I do think the law needs tightening.
Abortion up to 12 weeks and after that only in extreme circumstances.

I expect you're aware that the vast majority of abortions in the UK take place in the first 12 weeks. Those taking place after the first trimester are because the girl/woman has had difficulty accessing services or because pre-natal testing has shown an abnormality.

Callistemon21

volver

I know abortion will never be banned here in the UK.

That's quite a statement.

Its just been banned in several states in the US. They probably thought it would never happen either.

I do think that fundamentalist Christians have more of a sway in the States than they ever would here.

Besides which, The US Supreme Court consists of nine judges, six of whom are Catholic. That is not representative of the population as a whole.

It's not just your thinking - it's true.

I agree with Galaxy. I have no fear of abortion being banned in the UK or of the death penalty being brought back here. The situation in the UK is very different to the situation in America. The USA has always been more right wing/fundamentalist than the UK. Evangelical Christianity is very big in America, especially in the southern states. Here despite the fact that we still have a state religion, that is CofE, with bishops in the HofLs, the reality is that the church holds little sway with either the population or the law makers, either left or right wing. With regard to JRM, he is a Catholic and holds traditional Catholic views. He cannot enact legislation on his own. I believe the situation regarding abortion and the death penalty will remain as it is in the UK.

Many areas of world, including the UK, is regressing into more right wing and fascist ideals and laws... this is part of that . The fundamentalist (brainwashing) Christian movement in the US is at the core of this legislation. All of the work women have done to gain autonomy and freedom as to what to do with their own property..ie their bodies, has now been undone. It seems the rights of women are being removed in many areas of the world... the tide of freedoms for woman , so hard fought for, has definitely turned. Its very depressing and worrying for the generations of women to come.
Trump here we come!!

Yes shock horror there will even be people in the labour party who are anti abortion. We are just a completely different culture, it's not comparable. I suppose the only comparisons I might make is that I think it's very easy not to fight for something when it already exists.

I do think that fundamentalist Christians have more of a sway in the States than they ever would here.

May be, but do you think that our rogue government, which is being controlled by the rightwing authoritarian section of the PLP wouldn't be capable of introducing an abortion ban, or the death penalty at their behest in order to hang on to power? Regardless of what the populace wanted?

We not only have RC JRM, but we have some protestant fundamentalists in the extreme right wing, too..

Kandinsky

I’m not anti abortion, but I am very uncomfortable with abortion on demand up to 24 weeks for social
reasons ( house too small etc ) that just doesn’t seem right.
I know abortion will never be banned here in the UK but I do think the law needs tightening.
Abortion up to 12 weeks and after that only in extreme circumstances.

That's how it's done sometimes isn't it? Small adjustments until without realising it your rights have disappeared.
Of course we do not have "abortion on demand".