Rachel Clarke: Are women’s reproductive rights safe in the UK?

Only six months ago this question might have seemed rhetorical or even outlandish, but then the unthinkable happened. In June 2022, the US Supreme Court made its seismic decision to overturn Roe v Wade. At one stroke, the nearly 50 year old constitutional right to abortion in the US was eliminated.Like many in the UK, I found the news deeply disturbing. American women’s hard fought rights to bodily autonomy have been fatally imperilled by an unholy alliance of religious zealots and hard right forced birthers whose goal was not so much the promotion of “life” but the control of women’s bodies. Horror stories began to emerge, like that of a 10 year old girl in Ohio being impregnated by rape, then being forced to travel to neighbouring Indiana to have an abortion.1 But surely—like school shootings and reality show presidents—the lurid excesses of modern America could never happen here?If only…
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