With the prospect of more stringent abortion laws being introduced in the UK looming over us like a black spectre, and reaffirming the archaic stigma attached to women who choose to have a termination, it is reassuring that Amnesty International UK (AIUK) has voted to support the right to safe and legal abortions, according to a report by the Feminist Daily Newswire.

Although AIUK has to date, like other branches of the organisation, taken a neutral stance on the issue of terminations, the introduction of repressive abortion laws has enticed them to change their position in order to protect women’s freedom and human rights.

Jon O’Brien, the enlightened President of Catholics for a Free Choice, supports AIUK’s decision, remarking that:

“Increasingly, human rights advocacy groups the world over are realizing that a woman’s freedom is intimately tied to her ability to control her reproductive health. Be it the UK, Ireland or Mexico, all women deserve access to safe, legal abortion. Amnesty International UK has a great opportunity to affirm that reproductive rights, including the right to end a pregnancy through abortion, are a vital part of the human rights canon.”

AIUK’s vote last weekend will be used by the organisation to determine the inclinations of all its members, and a final decision is expected in August 2007, at the next International Council Meeting in Mexico.

Hopefully with the support of this international organisation, women in the UK will be able to continue living in a pro-choice society, and will not have to resort to procuring illegal abortions and concealing their pregnancies leading to the development of detrimental health complications, and in some instances, death.

Photo by thebigdurian, shared under a Creative Commons License

Posted by Abby O'Reilly on 30 March 2007, at 5:05 PM