Abortion is a trade union issue


Trade unionists joined thousands of people last month in a march through central London to protest against the recent overturning of abortion rights in the US. Organised by the Abortion Rights campaign, the march also demanded the decriminalisation of abortion in the UK.


The June 2022 Supreme Court decision to overturn the Roe v Wade ruling in America stripped millions of women across the US of access to abortion, with 10 states making abortion illegal almost immediately and 11 expected to follow shortly after. 


Experts say maternal deaths in the US will almost certainly increase, particularly among black people, who are already 3.5 times more likely than their white peers to die due to pregnancy and childbirth.


In February 2022, the women’s conference of the UNISON public services union passed a motion in support of total decriminalisation, and general secretary Christina McAnea has made clear that abortion is a trade union issue and a class issue. Restricting abortion does not reduce its prevalence, she said. 


The UK’s 1861 Offences Against the Person Act classifies abortion as a crime that carries a punishment of up to 12 years in prison. 


The 1967 Abortion Act gives women in the UK access to abortion, but only under specific grounds, with permission from two doctors. 


Northern Ireland decriminalised abortion in 2019, but due to a lack of clinics, women must still travel to England to access a clinic.