As Chair of Voice for Choice the UK coalition to defend and extend abortion access, I would like to offer solidarity with the organisers of and participants in today’s Rally for Choice.
The recent medical abortion prosecutions have highlighted once again the injustice of Northern Ireland’s prohibitive abortion law. We celebrate women’s access to safe medical abortion which means that women who are unable to travel to the mainland can have safe abortions at home where once they would have put their lives at risk in the backstreets. However, we deplore the fact that they must still risk life imprisonment for doing so.
I know there is growing support for your struggle. I hope today’s march will inspire more people to challenge the status quo in Northern Ireland and send a message to Westminster that women’s rights are human rights and must be respected and protected.
Yours in solidarity,
Lisa Hallgarten