40 Days of Choice

Every year at this time, the anti-choice group 40 Days for Life spends the 40 days leading up to Easter (the traditional period of Lent) picketing abortion clinics, spreading misinformation, and generally harassing women and staff going in and out of the clinics. This year the 40 Days of Choice campaign has been launched to celebrate the right to safe, legal abortion.

A woman's right to choose has been under an increased threat recently with plans to allow anti-abortion groups publicly funded pregnancy counselling services, despite the defeat of similar proposals in a parliamentary vote last year. Diane Abbot, Shadow Public Health Minister, resigned from the cross-party group on abortion counselling accusing the Government of trying to push through the anti-choice agenda irrespective of public opinion. 

A survey of ten crisis pregnancy centres that offer pregnancy choices counselling to women found that only two of the ten centres offered good quality information while others with referred to the ‘baby’, showed women baby clothes or handed out literature that stated abortion caused an increased risk in breast cancer.

Meanwhile, an investigation by The Telegraph found that a number of private clinics are offering abortions on the grounds of sex-selection which is illegal. Pro-choice activists have warned that this should not be used as an excuse by the anti-choice movement to tighten restrictions on abortion.  

Also this week, two Catholic midwives in Glasgow lost a legal case to avoid participating in abortion procedures because of their 'conscientious objections'. They claimed that having to supervise staff who were taking part in abortions violated their human rights. A judge ruled that they did not have direct involvement with procedures.   

On a positive note, I came across this great short film, Obvious Child, 'A romantic comedy about an unplanned pregnancy, an abortion, and a great first date in an unlikely location'. So it is indeed possible to have a cute love story with the odd abortion thrown in for good measure.

An abortion clinic is an unorthodox first date venue but still looks like fun