“It’s more important than ever that we come together from all our different backgrounds to defend reproductive rights.”
By Judith Orr
First, they don’t care about life, anyone’s life. They just want to impose their ideology on women, on everyone, and take away hard-won rights to control our fertility and choose whether we want to be pregnant or not.
Second, they lie, big dangerous lies such as “there is no such thing as a safe abortion”. When in fact abortion is completely safe and in many cases it is actually lifesaving.
Third, they don’t even hide the fact that they want to ban ALL abortions, their slogan is “Life from conception, no exception.” They want to turn us into human incubators with no bodily autonomy.
Fourth, they claim women “pay a particularly high price for legalised abortion”, using false figures to claim women suffer health complications from abortions. They never mention how dangerous it was for women before the 1967 Abortion Act allowed legal abortions. We need to remember that for the 12 years before the Act, backstreet abortions were the leading cause of maternal mortality in England and Wales. In fact, Abortion Rights believes that the fact that abortion still has any basis in criminal law is a disgrace and we want to see full decriminalisation. In contrast to the slogans on placards wielded by the March for Life, we believe that abortion is healthcare.
Fifth, just take a look at where they get political support. The march is backed by the Alliance Defending Freedom UK (ADF) who in turn are financially backed by Alliance Defending Freedom in the US. This is an organisation with links to leading Republican politicians and was at the centre of the campaign to overturn Roe v Wade in the US.
Sixth, follow the money. The Alliance Defending Freedom in the US contributed over a million pounds to ADF International in the UK in 2024. Yes, you read that right, over a million pounds. This is the group who fight for the right for anti-abortion campaigners to harass women and staff entering hospitals and abortion clinics. They fund legal cases supporting people who have broken buffer zones laws, and are supported by Trump’s Vice President JD Vance.
Seventh. The march represents the annual coming together of all the strands of the anti-abortion movement in Britain. So it includes long time bigots such as the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) as well as more recent groups such as Abortion Resistance who try to attract young people to the anti-abortion cause.
Eighth, because of the strength of public opinion in support of abortion rights in Britain the March for Life demonstrators try to subvert the language of our side, of civil rights, empowerment and even feminism to promote their authoritarian and profoundly anti-feminist cause.
Ninth. The march attracts increasing numbers of far-right activists who with flags and crusader outfits seek to whip up racism and division. Arch bigot Tommy Robinson has
Tenth and finally. With the rise of Nigel Farage and Reform, the anti-abortion movement has the potential to gain a bigger platform. Farage’s stated view is to cut the time limit on abortion. We know such roll backs are where attacks on abortion rights start, but the end goal of the anti-abortion movement here is to copy the US “heartbeat laws” ban at six weeks, before most people know they are pregnant.
That’s the threat, that’s why it’s more important than ever that we come together from all our different backgrounds to defend reproductive rights.
Join Abortion Rights at 1pm Saturday 6 September to shout loud and clear: “Our bodies, our lives, our right to decide.”
Bring your banners, your workmates, your friends and families and communities.
If you can’t join us could you make a donation, buy some merch, share our posts? We welcome any support you can give
Hope to see you on the day!
- Judith Orr is Vice Chair of Abortion Rights– you can follow the campaign on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram.
- This article was originally published by Abortion Rights’ website on 21/8/2025.
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