As police are issued with guidance on how to check a woman\u2019s phone after miscarriage, the MP Stella Creasy explains why we need to future-proof our abortion rights<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Words by Stella Creasy and Maria Lally<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2194609571.jpg” alt=”Pro choice protest” title_text=”Women’s Marches Held Across UK” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] The Handmaid\u2019s Tale might be a work of fiction. But with increasing attacks on women\u2019s reproductive rights, the message it sends to fight for our rights before it\u2019s too late, is for our time. Across the world, women\u2019s bodies are being used as the battlefield of the culture wars \u2013 with basic healthcare and equalities protections being ripped up as a result. Yet anyone who thinks we can be complacent about such freedoms in this country isn\u2019t paying attention, either to the threats we face now or could face in the near future. Not least to abortion access. That\u2019s why it\u2019s time to put the right to choose into the law and make sure we guarantee every woman can have an abortion if she wishes.<\/p>\n It seems incredible to say this, but police have been issued guidance on how to check a woman\u2019s phone after an unexpected pregnancy loss to establish her \u2018knowledge and intention in relation to the pregnancy\u2019. This can include examining her menstrual cycle tracking apps, search history, and messages. They\u2019ve also been advised on how to search her home for \u2018drugs that can terminate pregnancy\u2019, in cases involving stillbirths.<\/p>\n Dr Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), has called the new guidance \u2018shocking\u2019. \u2018Women in these circumstances have a right to compassionate care and to have their dignity and privacy respected, not to have their homes, phones, \u00adcomputers and health apps searched, or be arrested and interrogated,\u2019 she says.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_code][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] There has been an explosion in investigations and prosecutions of women and girls for having abortions in England in recent years. That\u2019s because abortion isn\u2019t actually legal in England and Wales \u2013 you are only exempted from prosecution if you have an abortion under certain conditions. This means vulnerable women can be questioned and pursued when they have late term miscarriages.<\/p>\n JD Vance, the Vice President of America has criticised the buffer zones around abortion clinics, which are there to protect women who visit them, allowing them to do so in peace and to not be harassed.<\/p>\n In the UK, Nigel Farage has also begun talking about these issues, possibly sensing a chance to repeat the success of American politicians in using abortion to gain votes. Whether arguing there should be a \u2018debate\u2019 about reducing the time limit for a termination or supporting those who say its free speech to protest outside clinics, his interest in these tactics should worry anyone who recognises bodily autonomy is the foundation of equality.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2160665842.jpg” alt=”Stella Creasy” title_text=”Count And Declaration For The Constituency Of Walthamstow” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] American groups have been running training events for anti-abortion activists in the UK \u2013 and money and activists from these networks are flooding into the country.<\/p>\n Decriminalisation alone will not protect the right to choose for women in England and Wales \u2013 to do this, we have to look to Northern Ireland where it is a human right to access a safe abortion. This protection has meant not only is access to telemedicine protected, but also abortion buffer zones and service provision itself. That\u2019s why in the coming weeks we will be arguing to introduce the same laws England and Wales. To do this would not mean any change to the settled time limits that have governed access to abortion in this country for over 50 years. It would mean every woman had a right to a safe and legal abortion whoever is in power.<\/p>\n Crucially we are also seeking protections to prevent Ministers overturning this law without democratic consent. If any future Prime Minister wanted to remove a woman\u2019s right to choose, under our proposals they would have to get the agreement of every MP \u2013 meaning every one of us could ask our local representative to intervene.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}”] Every MP can choose to support this plan if they choose to co-sign the Creasy amendment to the forthcoming Policing Bill. So, if you don\u2019t want to wait to see more American style attacks on women\u2019s rights in our own politics, then ask your MP to put the right to choose into law and make abortion access not a criminal matter but what it should be \u2013 healthcare. It\u2019s time for us to guarantee no woman has to live \u2018Under His Eye\u2019 or in fear of what harm the ballot box might bring when it comes to their basic human rights.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”] Photo: <\/b>Getty<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2018Anyone who is complacent about abortion freedom in the UK isn\u2019t paying attention,’ says MP Stella Creasy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-news"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10096"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10129,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10096\/revisions\/10129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘Decriminalisation alone will not protect the right to choose.’<\/span><\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]