Worrying movements in the UK parliament; a bill is being proposed to lower the abortion time limit from 24 weeks to 20 – the aim being, allegedly, to eventually lower it to 13. What?!
See the f-word for more discussion, and Zoe Williams’ piece worrying about why abortion is still taboo (and how the taboo is perpetuated by the unwillingness of some pro-choice members of parliament to be forthright in their views).
And she points out that, unsurprisingly, lowering the time limit is likely to have the biggest impact on less well off women:
‘In Britain, while some care trusts offer a good abortion service pre-12 weeks, it is by no means nationwide, so a very large proportion of women are having to wait till after their three-month scan unless they can afford to go private. And yet, many women who count as late-term abortions, at 18 weeks or more, report that the reason their pregnancy got so advanced was because that at any point from 15 weeks, their GPs became obstructive and unhelpful. So really, the window for an abortion on the NHS can be as narrow as three weeks, and all it takes is some garden-variety inefficiency for that window to be shut altogether.
So it boils down to this: for those of us with the cash, abortion is still an inviolable right, and for those of us without it, things are a lot more sticky.’
And even then, an inviolable right to have an abortion? Only if two docs say you can (the good news is that *might* be changing).
Feminist Philosophers 
If you are as angry about this as I am please ring or email your MP today and ask them to vote to maintain the 24 week limit. Info on how to do so at http://www.abortionrights.org.uk. Also there is a protest outside parliament on Tuesday as MPs arrive for the debate, please come, please bring friends!!
Many thanks for the info, Cruella!