Heather Rawling, Socialist Party National Committee

There has been a growing tendency amongst some police forces to investigate women who have had miscarriages and abortions, causing much distress for those women at a vulnerable time in their lives.

In May, Nicola Packer was found not guilty of illegally terminating a pregnancy, after taking abortion pills beyond the legal limit of 12 weeks. Six women have been prosecuted for ‘illegally terminating a pregnancy’ since 2022 under the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861. An Act passed in Victorian times which had only been used in such cases three times before 2022!

Carla Foster was sentenced to 28 months in prison for terminating her pregnancy during the Covid lockdown. 58 years after the 1967 Abortion Act, women in the UK still do not have a legal right to abortion. In fact, there has been an acceleration in prosecutions being brought against women who have had abortions after the 24-week limit.

The impact on the women concerned is devastating. You could be denied access to your children. Arrests have been made in public places, impacting on women’s privacy.

In December, the National Police Chief’s Council issued new guidance for ‘Child death investigation’. These guidelines allow phones, tablets and computers to be checked for period tracker apps, Google searches, and other invasive investigations.

Police are ramping up repression while the government cuts services.

Austerity’s impact

Women have been under attack in many ways, including from cuts to public services. Most jobs in the public sector are done by women; women, because of their caring role in the family, are the biggest users of public services and they will be expected to take on a bigger caring role as public services are cut further.

The Socialist Party fights for the right and resources to choose when and whether to have children. That means fully funding and expanding abortion, contraceptive and reproductive health services. End legal repression and fight for a socialist alternative. This includes fighting for the resources people need when deciding whether to have children – for free childcare, council housing, and decent pay and maternity and paternity rights.

We need a fully funded NHS, kick out the privateers and cancel the crippling interest rates paid on PFI loans. Cancel the two-child benefit cap, invest in a massive council house building programme and fully fund our schools. For a national minimum wage of at least £15 an hour.