Public and Commercial Services Union
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Abortion rights - the fight continues
A number of restrictive anti-abortion amendments have been tabled, as well as positive amendments to improve the law for women.
PCS is committed to defending a womans's right to choose and encourages members to take every opportunity to lobby their MP during the summer and autumn. Please write to your MP today and ask them to sign up to the early day motion 2009 on abortion law:
"That this House supports access to safe abortion as early as possible for women who need one; recognises that medical ethics, practice and social attitudes about abortion have progressed since the Abortion Act was framed in 1967; is concerned that the current legislation imposes clinically unnecessary restrictions which cause delays, resulting in abortion taking place at a later gestation than is necessary; notes the science and technology committee's recent inquiry into the `Scientific Developments relation to the Abortion Act 1967' which found no evidence to support the need for two doctors' signatures for a woman to have an abortion; recommended that suitably trained healthcare practitioners as well as doctors should be permitted to perform abortions, that the restriction on the locations where abortions could take place should be removed to give women the choice of completing the second stage of early medical abortion at home; further notes these recommendations are supported by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists , the Royal College of Nursing, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, Family Planning Association, Antenatal Results and Choices, Abortion Rights, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, Marie Stopes International, Doctors for a Woman's Choice on Abortion and Brook; further notes these organisations support provision of safe abortions in other primary care settings as a way to increase choice, improve access and minimise delay; and urges honourable members to support amendments to the human fertilisation and embryology bill to modernise the law and improve women's early access to abortion."
