GMB Union calls on politicians to trust women with their own lives, bodies and choices
MPs from all parties must back a bill going before Parliament today to give women in Northern Ireland the same abortion rights as women in the rest of the UK.
An amendment to the Northern Ireland bill today would put on obligation on the government to set out “progress made towards meeting international human rights obligations applicable to the United Kingdom in relation to the reproductive rights of women”. [1]
GMB Union supports the right of women to make their own choices about their own bodies, after previous trade union research in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland showed that a majority of trade union members support the woman’s right to choose.
A survey of trade union members carried out in Northern Ireland showed that 84% of trade union members in Northern Ireland would support decriminalization [2].
Denise Walker, GMB Senior Organiser, said:
“We urge all MPs to support the amendments on abortion rights to the Northern Ireland bill.
“Abortion is reproductive healthcare issue not a criminal act.”
“Women workers in NI are adversely impacted when seeking an abortion whether it's travelling, taking time off work or returning too soon and unable in many cases to get the help or after care they need because of the stigma attached to abortion.
“It is unacceptable that an act passed in the middle of the 19th Century is still able to have punitive consequences on the reproductive health of women in the 21st Century.”
