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ReportWHERE TO FIND HELPABORTIONSUPPORT
NETWORK
abortionsupport.org.uk
07897 611593MARIE STOPES
INTERNATIONAL
mariestopes.org.uk
24-hour advice line
0345 300 8090BRITISH PREGNANCY
ADVISORY SERVICE
(BPAS) bpas.org
0345 730 4030NATIONAL UNPLANNED
PREGNANCY ADVISORY
SERVICE (NUPAS)
nupas.co.uk
0333 004 6666To put pressure on your
MP to support the new
amendment to
decriminalise abortion in
Northern Ireland, visit
nowforni.uk/emailto sleep in their cars. The article featured the Haven
Coalition,a group of volunteers who let people stay in their
homes. Even though I lived in a teeny studio, I began
inviting women and girls coming to the city for an abortion
tostay. And that’s where it all started for me.
‘When I moved to the UK, I looked for something similar to
support women in Ireland and Northern Ireland, but people
weretelling me there was just no need for it now there were
credit cards and RyanAir, but I knew that couldn’t be right.
‘So, in 2009, I started The Abortion Support Network with
five friends for women in
Northern Ireland, Ireland and
the Isle of Man. As a charity, we
give information on the
process, provide travel and
accommodation arrangements,
pay for abortions and find the
cheapest way to make the trip.
When someone contacts us,
we never ask them how they
got pregnant or why they want
an abortion, because that is
none of our business. After all,
rich women don’t need to
justify themselves.
‘Last year, our clients
ranged from 12 to 53 years old.
Our largest group is women
in or escaping from abusive
relationships. Reproductive
coercion is a big problem:
abusers won’t use birth
control or they sabotage it
to keep women pregnant
becauseit’s harder for them to leave.
‘Every bit of research shows that
banningabortion doesn’t stop it; it just
stops safe abortion for poor women.
Because women with money have the
ability to travel, and women without
money don’t. And that’s just not fair.
‘What makes it an ordeal is you have to
geton a plane. The law in Northern Ireland
takes what should be a five-minute
outpatient procedure and turns it into
a 16-hour ordeal. And let’s talk about the
otherobstacles: say they’re in an abusive
relationship – what happens if they’ve got
children to look after? What if they have
insecurework status or have to care for
a parent? Abortion highlights the other
issues people who are already marginalised
face. And that’s the difficult part of our
work; we can only solve one problem.
‘Over the years, we’ve been told we’re
hysterical, too politically correct, that
we should lighten up. But when Donald
Trump was elected, people started
saying: “How can I help?” That’s what is
great about Alabama, and the light it has
shone on Northern Ireland. People are
saying, “How can I help?”’‘THE STATE HATES WOMEN’EmmaGallen is a stall coordinator at
Alliance4Choice,a campaign group for abortion
rights in Northern Ireland
‘I coordinate an information stall in Belfast city centre on
Saturdayafternoons encouraging people to sign up to our
mailing lists andrunning different campaigns, writing to
politicians. When you’re on the stall,
reactions vary. If some of the pro-life
groups are out on the street, people tell us
howupsetting they find them. They have
images of foetuses and signs that say:
“Abortion won’t unrape you”. Yet, in
someways, they are our biggest recruiter.
‘A lot people approach us to talk about
how wrong they think it is that women
have to travel, but don’t necessarily
support abortion. For years, you had
to pay for abortions in England. It’s only
been since 2017 that there’s been
any funding, and that comes from
the government’s equalities budget.
Scotland, where there are free abortions,
isan option but it’s not practical: you have
tobe there for a week, see a GP, then go to
a hospital as there’s no private clinics.
Also, if you’re in England, the state pays
for some childcare. We don’t have that
here, which makes things even harder.
The state hates women.
‘Alongside the stalls, Alliance4Choice
alsodelivers workshops to change the way
people talk about abortion. There’s also
political lobbying of Westminster to keep
Northern Ireland’s abortion laws on the
agenda. For years, we have petitioned
them to act; to decriminalise abortion here.
The UN has said that Westminster has to
act because what women are enduring
istorture, nottantamountto torture, but
torture. Forcing someone to continue with
a pregnancy for 12 weeks when they know
the child is going to die or not offering
support for rape victims is torture. Awful
things are happening. A story came out in
the Women’s and Equalities Committee
inquiry of a 12-year-old rape victim who
had to go to England with a police escort so
they could collect the foetus for evidence.
‘If you’re a feminist in England, you can
lobbyyour MP, and they can actually make
life better for women in Northern Ireland.
But,instead, people protest about Trump
or the abortion laws in Alabama and
Georgia – and they are not as restrictive
as the ones in Northern Ireland. It
is frustrating. When people ask me,
“Why didn’t your government act?”
I often reply, “Why didn’t yours sooner?”’■