Thursday, April 7, 2016

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News

Calling Stormont: decriminalise abortion

Posted: 06 Apr 2016 11:04 AM PDT

MLA, #trustwomen, campaign, decriminalise abortion, northern IrelandTell your MLA that women who have abortions are not criminals.

Alliance for Choice, an organisation that campaigns for the extension of the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland, expressed its dismayed at the recent decision to hand a suspended prison sentence to a young woman in Northern Ireland who could not afford to travel to England for an abortion, so bought pills on the internet.

As things stand, the 1967 Abortion Act does not apply to Northern Ireland and there is no provision in Northern Ireland for abortions to be legally carried out on grounds of rape, incest or foetal abnormality.

Abortion is legal in Northern Ireland (NI), but the circumstances are extremely restrictive and rely on the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act. And women found in direct contravention of that Act can be put to 'penal servitude for life'.

But women in NI are having abortions – at least 80,000 since 1968.

Women with the means to do so have to travel to England and other European countries for safe and legal abortion services.

These women have to pay privately for a service that is available on the NHS to their counterparts elsewhere in UK; and abortion costs range from £600 to £2,000.

Alliance for Choice's #trustwomen campaign is keeping abortion firmly on the political agenda in the run up to the Assembly Elections on 5 May 2016, and pushing for progress on abortion legislation in Northern Ireland.

The campaigners hold that women should be trusted to know what is best for themselves and their families.

The #trustwomen campaign is to encourage Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to:

Trust women to make decisions about their own lives;

Ask for legal change to allow greater access to abortion; and

Make the vote a free vote for all MLAs, should progressive changes come to the Assembly.

And it is urging all supporters to contact their MLAs and prospective candidates and tell them that women are not to be criminalised.

Alliance for Choice is asking for MLAs to have a free vote on the matter to ensure that the primary concerns of the NI Assembly in regards to abortion are women’s health and women’s lives.

The use of a – strong – party whip has so far prevented MLAs from voting according to their personal consciences on abortion rights, and affects women’s lives in a real and damaging way.

But public opinion poll after opinion poll have highlighted that over 70 per cent of the population want abortion law reform – which is more support than was demonstrated for the Good Friday Agreement.

Alliance for Choice believes that the decriminalisation of abortion should be considered by parties in the same way that the vote on Equal Marriage was.

Ask Alliance for Choice for postcards for your friends, family and networks to send to your MLA, or you can email your Stormont candidates this message.

And please sign this petition.

Thanks.

And don't forget to register to vote! Register by 18 April to vote in the 5 May elections, or by 7 June to vote in the EU referendum on 23 June.

Women’s Equality Party’s Scottish manifesto out

Posted: 06 Apr 2016 10:52 AM PDT

WE, Women's Equality party, Scottish elections, manifesto, 2016Committed to making gender equality a reality and keeping it at the top of the agenda.

The Women's Equality Party Scotland published their manifesto for the Scottish elections on 5 May recently.

It covers seven key policy goals, saying:

The Women's Equality (WE) Party will fight to establish equal pay and end the gender pay gap. WE will tackle the causes of the pay gap, including unpaid caregiving, across all types of work to ensure that all women are paid fairly for the work they undertake.

WE will strive to create an equal footing for parents and caregivers, regardless of gender.  WE will work towards a Scotland where everyone can share opportunity and responsibility in the workplace and at home.

WE will strive for an end to violence against women and girls, once and for all. Only through eradicating the scourge of gender violence can WE achieve true equality for women in Scotland.

WE will campaign for equal representation in politics, business, industry and throughout working life. Women's presence is needed in these spheres to ensure a better Scotland for everyone.

WE will work hard to ensure that women's representation in the media is positive, constructive and empowering. WE will press for women's portrayal in the media to be addressed and work constructively towards a fair, gender balanced media landscape in Scotland.

WE will promote an education system that creates opportunities for all children regardless of gender. We will work across parties and agencies in Scotland to promote an understanding of why gender equality matters.

WE will push for women’s voices to be at the heart of all government decisions and budgets, to ensure that they don’t disadvantage women. WE will work to ensure gender balanced leadership from the highest levels of the Scottish Government to our local councils.

To read the full manifesto, click here.

The Women’s Equality Party has grown from an idea to a political party with over 45,000 members and supporters, fielding candidates in three elections across the UK, in just one year – and this manifesto was produced by WE party members in Scotland.

And Women's Equality Party MSPs will be committed to making gender equality a reality and keeping it at the top of the agenda – from ending violence against women and girls to equal representation, from equal pay and opportunity to equal treatment in the media, from equal parenting and caregiving to equal education.

"For too long women have been underrepresented in public life," Lee Chalmers, regional list candidate for Lothian said.

"I'm running for Holyrood to address that imbalance.

"It is only by making sure that women are at the table that we can make gender equality a reality. In the media, government, local authorities and boards, women's voices lead to better decisions for Scotland."

Anne Beetham, regional list candidate for Glasgow, added: "WE want Scotland to lead the way in achieving gender equality – I'll be fighting for that by working at the highest level to tackle issues that exclude and hold back women in our society.

"Putting this right will benefit everyone."

Don’t forget to register to vote on 5 May. It’s very simple. Register by 18 April to vote in the 5 May elections, or by 7 June to vote in the EU referendum on 23 June.