Abortion access to 24 weeks in Scotland

[MartinCraneAstronaut]

I am usually a lurker here, but after searching for discussion on this I could not find it so decided to start my own thread. Please do direct me if I have overlooked other threads!

I have spent today feeling genuinely shaken after reading the following article by Lucy Grieve in the Scotsman (published 5 June this year) - www.scotsman.com/health/the-scottish-government-is-failing-women-when-it-comes-to-abortion-lucy-grieve-3720095

I have found other threads talking about Lucy’s work with Back Off regarding abortion clinic buffer zones.

In it, she highlights the lack of abortion services in Scotland up to 24 weeks. She starts: “Since 2019, 170 Scottish women – including children under the age of 16 – have been sent across the border into England to have an abortion. This roughly equates to one Scottish woman every week that is having to make this journey to access healthcare that is legal in Scotland”…

“As it stands there is no health board in Scotland that provides abortion care up to the longstanding legal limit of 24 weeks to the women in its area. In every part of Scotland, these women are being sent to England in order to access the care they so desperately need and are legally entitled to.”

Further covered in the Guardian this week: amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/22/abortion-hierarchy-uk-lack-of-services-scotland-northern-ireland-england-terminate-pregnancy - “In some health board areas she found the service stopped significantly short of this too. In Fife, for example, it is 15 weeks and five days.”

To put it bluntly… what the fuck?! Im quite ashamed I did not know this, and ashamed of our Scottish Government (not an unfamiliar feeling, I’ll admit). This feels like such a failure of women, especially when the SNP present themselves as so bloody morally superior in all circumstances, including feminism (apologies, I wanted to write this in a dispassionate way, but have failed).

I’ve been a donating to the ASN for years now, and am shocked at the lack of vital provision right on my doorstep.

I have contacted my MSP, but am at a bit of a loss what else to do. I guess I just wanted to share and hear other’s thoughts.

Can I add to that that women in northern Ireland have NO access to abortion in their own country?

Yes - that is truly awful.

I had to travel from Glasgow to London 15 years ago clearly nothing has changed.

Why is this? Genuine question.

Jesus. I genuinely had no idea, what a stressful experience that must have been.

I have no idea! Maybe part of my reason for posting was someone might be able to answer that - SURELY there must be a reason?

I'll say again, why is this happening? What's behind all this?

I'm angry right now at how women are treated like shit

Actually that's incorrect. Only over 10 weeks.

Are you sure? This link suggests otherwise.

www.asn.org.uk/get-help-ni/

I have just learned this too and i'm horrified.

What's Sturgeons plan for independence here then? Change the abortion cut off? Build these facilities? I'd be interested to know. I'd also like to know if these 'count' in England's stats or Scotland's...

Those poor women

"Actually that's incorrect. Only over 10 weeks"

Who is deciding this?

Yup - it genuinely has made me want to scream. Sick of this shit.

I had no idea about this either and I live in Scotland. That’s terrible, and also very out of line with how the Scottish government likes to portray itself in terms of issues affecting women.

I live in Northern Ireland... And work in healthcare. I would know? Lol

It was horrific.
The staff in the clinic weren't nice at all either, I then had to leave at midday, bleeding heavily, in a lot of pain and spend the afternoon/evening in the bus station and get an overnight bus home, it was all I could afford.
That's the v short story.

I’m so sorry you went through that. You were utterly failed by the government, and by the NHS in being treated so badly.

Sorry can I just clarify.. do you think people should have access to abortion after 24 weeks?
I am not against abortion at all.. but at 24 weeks? Unless risk of life to mum or baby it’s absolutely wrong

My feelings on abortion after 24 weeks aren’t relevant.

What is happening at the moment if that women in Scotland are legally entitled to abortion up to 24 weeks, but there is no provision anywhere in Scotland where they are able to get one all the way until that point. Women in Fife, for example, cannot get an abortion there after 15.5 weeks.

It's very clear that is nothing to do with this thread. It's about women being unable to access abortions up to the legal limit in their own health board area or even country, nothing to do with abortions past 24 weeks or opinions on later term abortions.

I had no idea this was the case so thanks for highlighting, OP. It's quite shocking.

Please don't derail a conversation about the lack of legal, safe healthcare with this. Please. Not today.

find out your pregnant don’t want to keep it, fine. Wait 4 months then decide… nah. Big difference terminating a “bunch of cells” than a baby who could survive… so do you genuinely not believe there should be a cut off?

Stopping women from
a ceasing abortion legally will just result in desperate women accessing abortion through other (dangerous and life threatening) means. It’s appalling and the Western world is going backwards.

This is NOT happening here, is it!?

Why is American law influencing us. They've existed for a few hundred years and still ruled by religion. The UK or parts of it has existed since the year dot. We are far more advanced. Yes, Britain can be a twat, but we are not twats when it comes to this.