Not for a second. Do I worry terribly about the devastating impact a lack of abortion provision is having on the lives - and in the tragic, twisted case of Adriana Smith - DEATHS of women? Yes. I do.
I commented on your Insta when you wrote about your abortions in, I think, Grazia. I had one when I was 19, purely for lifestyle reasons. Practically, there was no reason I couldn’t have a baby. I was safe, I was healthy, I was working, I was in a stable relationship. But I didn’t want to. So I didn’t, and no-one tried to persuade me otherwise. I felt no shame, no guilt, no grief. I refuse to feel lucky for that; it is as it should be. I will defend until my last breath the right of women to make that choice.
Agree 100%. I’ve just emailed my MP to ask for his support of the amendment (not confident, he’s a Tory and a former Crime Commissioner with a strong suggestion of right wingness). If anyone else wants to do the same then this link will give you their name and email address.
Reading about Adriana brought me to tears. In healthy women the risk of blood clots is increased by being pregnant, even early pregnancy. The fetus has likely been cause of her death. Yet she is being kept on life support purely as an incubator for the fetus to develop? Surely the risks to the fetus in these actions must be enormous? Pneumonia, sepsis, further clots including in the placenta, lack of nutrition, the anaesthetic drugs all pose risks to the survival of the fetus & if delivered safety to its risk of disability & survival in the neonatal period.
As this is happening in the USA & is happening due to State Laws, is the State going to foot the enormous health care bills? If not, will the family be plunged into huge debt?
I have contacted my MP outlining why the bill should be opposed.
I’m another who had a termination of pregnancy before medical terminations were available. I have never, ever regretted it for a second. I did lose 2 friends but they obviously weren’t real friends & I didn’t mourn their loss either.
I have never been coy about it. Like you I respect other people’s beliefs.
What boils my piss is those hypocrites who spout their personal beliefs as if they, & only they are in the right. Only to find they have had a termination of pregnancy or have got someone pregnant & forced them to have an abortion!
Thats such a horrific story. Haunting. What the hell has happened to the USA. Fundamentalist religion of ANY AND ALL kind is truly evil. And when it affects our legal rights - horrendously wrong.
Have you read Brave New World? Where people are decanted out of jars and nourished until they reach a particular intelligence that the Gov needs at the time. It used to feel so far away. Over the years, more and more of that book has become true.
Polly, you are a true advocate for abortion rights and we didn't think on that day in 2017 that you would still be here writing and shouting out loud, it just wasn't possible that things would go backwards was it?! Thank you for always using your voice and platform, and for perfectly describing that truly brilliant day x
Despite not having children (not by choice), I will defend to the hilt a fellow female’s right to choose. What is happening in the US is beyond grotesque. Amazing piece Polly……👏🏻👏🏻
So thought provoking. In the UK women whose pregnancy would endanger their own health or the baby will not survive can have a medical termination beyond the legal timeframe. The situation in the US currently literally makes me feel ill. The doctors forced to mete out this ‘treatment’ must be in despair.
Under the Abortion Act 1967, in England, Scotland and Wales you can have an abortion up to 23 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy if two doctors agree that having an abortion would:
cause less harm to your physical or mental health, or
cause less harm to the health of your existing children, than continuing with the pregnancy.
***You can also have an abortion at any stage of pregnancy if two doctors agree that:
the pregnancy poses a potential risk to your life,
the pregnancy would cause very serious risks to your health, or
there is high chance that the baby would be born with a serious disability, or be unable to survive after it is born.
Abortion in Northern Ireland comes under the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 and allows for abortions up to 11 weeks and 6 days. One healthcare professional (doctor, nurse or midwife) needs to certify the abortion. From 12 weeks onwards, Northern Ireland follows similar regulations to the rest of the UK.
I’ve had a response from my MP today. I can’t seem to upload the pic of the letter but suffice to say he recognises it’s an emotive issue, talks about what the previous government were going to do with a similar amendment, and says he’ll consider all the evidence when the time comes. FWIW, he assures me he is pro-choice. So at least he’s replied; definitely worth doing.
God Polly, all of this. I too have had an abortion and whilst I found it deeply traumatic, it would have been much more traumatic to have had the baby. Writing about it recently really helped but I want to do more to support this basic human right. How else can we do this, I would love to hear from others about how to do more to support this, especially in the lead up to the vote this summer.
I think writing about it is a good start! The more we do to bring it out of shame and secrecy, the better. The campaign to get it legalised in the UK is also a really good thing
Thank you. I pitched the piece to Grazia last week and had a few back and forths with features about it, but nothing confirmed for it (yet!). Thank you for the link. The stigma and shame is still so silencing but narratives are emerging, helped possibly by the Government's women's health strategy too.
Sadly, I don’t think abortion is legal in the UK. It remains a criminal offence unless it’s signed off by two independent doctors. We have a “choice” provided two doctors who, in the eyes of the state, know better than us, agree with that “choice”. The message underpinning the Abortion Act that women can’t make an actual decision about their body remains. And I’m guessing there weren’t many female doctors in 1967…
Adriana’s case makes me so upset and angry and sickened I had to force myself to read this, but force I did. Because we cannot put our head in the sand. Thank you Polly for writing this.
I commented on your Insta when you wrote about your abortions in, I think, Grazia. I had one when I was 19, purely for lifestyle reasons. Practically, there was no reason I couldn’t have a baby. I was safe, I was healthy, I was working, I was in a stable relationship. But I didn’t want to. So I didn’t, and no-one tried to persuade me otherwise. I felt no shame, no guilt, no grief. I refuse to feel lucky for that; it is as it should be. I will defend until my last breath the right of women to make that choice.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
👏👏👏
Good for you Polly ❤️
Agree 100%. I’ve just emailed my MP to ask for his support of the amendment (not confident, he’s a Tory and a former Crime Commissioner with a strong suggestion of right wingness). If anyone else wants to do the same then this link will give you their name and email address.
https://members.parliament.uk/members/Commons
Brilliant xxx
And you never know with tories! They can be reasonable on abortion.
Let’s hope so. It would be a shame to see some use it as an opportunity to cosy up to the deplorables.
That’s very true.
I’ve no faith either. Ours is Tory and all the neighbouring councils, and the mayor, have returned Reform. I shall try though.
❤️❤️❤️we gotta try!
Reading about Adriana brought me to tears. In healthy women the risk of blood clots is increased by being pregnant, even early pregnancy. The fetus has likely been cause of her death. Yet she is being kept on life support purely as an incubator for the fetus to develop? Surely the risks to the fetus in these actions must be enormous? Pneumonia, sepsis, further clots including in the placenta, lack of nutrition, the anaesthetic drugs all pose risks to the survival of the fetus & if delivered safety to its risk of disability & survival in the neonatal period.
As this is happening in the USA & is happening due to State Laws, is the State going to foot the enormous health care bills? If not, will the family be plunged into huge debt?
I have contacted my MP outlining why the bill should be opposed.
I’m another who had a termination of pregnancy before medical terminations were available. I have never, ever regretted it for a second. I did lose 2 friends but they obviously weren’t real friends & I didn’t mourn their loss either.
I’m delighted you have written this, thank you❤️
I mean, it’s just unthinkable, isn’t it? And the idea it might have been her pregnancy which caused the clots… terrible irony.
Much love to you for sharing. It’s important that the women who feel like they can, do share, I think. Helps de stigmatise.
I have never been coy about it. Like you I respect other people’s beliefs.
What boils my piss is those hypocrites who spout their personal beliefs as if they, & only they are in the right. Only to find they have had a termination of pregnancy or have got someone pregnant & forced them to have an abortion!
Oh MG ME TOO… nothing worse
Thats such a horrific story. Haunting. What the hell has happened to the USA. Fundamentalist religion of ANY AND ALL kind is truly evil. And when it affects our legal rights - horrendously wrong.
Isn’t it?
I am 100% in agreement with every word you have written. I will email my MP.
It turns out that my MP is already a supporter, so I emailed her to thank her.
Brava!
Have you read Brave New World? Where people are decanted out of jars and nourished until they reach a particular intelligence that the Gov needs at the time. It used to feel so far away. Over the years, more and more of that book has become true.
It’s really terrifying, isn’t it?
Polly, you are a true advocate for abortion rights and we didn't think on that day in 2017 that you would still be here writing and shouting out loud, it just wasn't possible that things would go backwards was it?! Thank you for always using your voice and platform, and for perfectly describing that truly brilliant day x
You are all of that and more, my wonderful friend. It was an amazing day xxx
My (Labour) MP has confirmed that she's voting for the amendment, it's terrifying what's happening in the US...we can't follow.
Hooray! No, we absolutely cannot.
Despite not having children (not by choice), I will defend to the hilt a fellow female’s right to choose. What is happening in the US is beyond grotesque. Amazing piece Polly……👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you ❤️
So thought provoking. In the UK women whose pregnancy would endanger their own health or the baby will not survive can have a medical termination beyond the legal timeframe. The situation in the US currently literally makes me feel ill. The doctors forced to mete out this ‘treatment’ must be in despair.
I didn’t know that about the legal timeframe in the UK. Thank you!
I know. It is sickening in the most literal sense.
Abortion law in the UK
Under the Abortion Act 1967, in England, Scotland and Wales you can have an abortion up to 23 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy if two doctors agree that having an abortion would:
cause less harm to your physical or mental health, or
cause less harm to the health of your existing children, than continuing with the pregnancy.
***You can also have an abortion at any stage of pregnancy if two doctors agree that:
the pregnancy poses a potential risk to your life,
the pregnancy would cause very serious risks to your health, or
there is high chance that the baby would be born with a serious disability, or be unable to survive after it is born.
Abortion in Northern Ireland comes under the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 and allows for abortions up to 11 weeks and 6 days. One healthcare professional (doctor, nurse or midwife) needs to certify the abortion. From 12 weeks onwards, Northern Ireland follows similar regulations to the rest of the UK.
I’ve had a response from my MP today. I can’t seem to upload the pic of the letter but suffice to say he recognises it’s an emotive issue, talks about what the previous government were going to do with a similar amendment, and says he’ll consider all the evidence when the time comes. FWIW, he assures me he is pro-choice. So at least he’s replied; definitely worth doing.
Ok great! Thats a slippery answer… but an answer
Yes, definitely a politician’s answer! X
God Polly, all of this. I too have had an abortion and whilst I found it deeply traumatic, it would have been much more traumatic to have had the baby. Writing about it recently really helped but I want to do more to support this basic human right. How else can we do this, I would love to hear from others about how to do more to support this, especially in the lead up to the vote this summer.
I think writing about it is a good start! The more we do to bring it out of shame and secrecy, the better. The campaign to get it legalised in the UK is also a really good thing
https://bpas-campaigns.org/campaigns/time-to-act/
Thank you. I pitched the piece to Grazia last week and had a few back and forths with features about it, but nothing confirmed for it (yet!). Thank you for the link. The stigma and shame is still so silencing but narratives are emerging, helped possibly by the Government's women's health strategy too.
Grazia just knocked back my abortion pitch so fingers crossed you get yours in!
Oh Polly that's kind but if they knocked yours back, I don't think they'd opt for mine. Let's keep trying!!
They said it’s cos they’ve got one in place already, so… regardless. We keep on writing about it ❤️
Sadly, I don’t think abortion is legal in the UK. It remains a criminal offence unless it’s signed off by two independent doctors. We have a “choice” provided two doctors who, in the eyes of the state, know better than us, agree with that “choice”. The message underpinning the Abortion Act that women can’t make an actual decision about their body remains. And I’m guessing there weren’t many female doctors in 1967…
Quite true but this is what Stella Creasy is trying to change.
Adriana’s case makes me so upset and angry and sickened I had to force myself to read this, but force I did. Because we cannot put our head in the sand. Thank you Polly for writing this.
❤️❤️❤️we can’t, we really can’t.