We've defended reproductive rights from religiously motivated restrictions since our founding.
Religion should not stand in the way of reproductive healthcare.
A desire to restrict reproductive rights, and to control women's bodies, is a hallmark of religious fundamentalism. We strongly support the right of women to have legal and safe abortions and access to emergency contraception.
Since its founding the National Secular Society has supported reproductive rights. In 1878 our founder and vice-president were prosecuted for making information about birth control accessible to working class women.
Throughout the world, reproductive rights are still under threat from theocrats. While individual religious people hold diverse views on abortion, every stage of progress in reproductive healthcare has been fought by religious organisations. Often these have involved virulent campaigns of intimidation and misinformation.
84% of people in the UK believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. This includes 76% of religious people and 94% of nonreligious people.
In the UK, emergency contraception can still sometimes be difficult to obtain. Some religious pharmacists have defied General Pharmaceutical Council guidance by refusing to sell it or even to dispense a prescription given to a woman after a consultation with her own doctor.
People of all religions and beliefs can have disagreements on the boundaries of bodily autonomy and reproductive rights. However, religious beliefs should not be used to restrict the bodily autonomy of other people.
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Latest updates
Pope attacks ‘radical secularism’ and orders US bishops to twist the arms of politicians over abortion
Posted: Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:02
The pope has again railed against what he sees as the dangers posed by "radical secularism".
At a meeting with US bishops he also said that they should defend their right to interfere in politics.
The Pope said that while he supported the principle of separation of church and state, he still thought the Catholic Church had a right to intervene when it thought necessary. The bishops should apply pressure on US politicians to promote Catholic doctrine, particularly the curtailment of abortion rights.
He said: "The Church has a critical role to play in countering cultural currents which, on the basis of an extreme individualism, seek to promote notions of freedom detached from moral truth."
He noted US bishops' efforts "to maintain contacts with Catholics involved in political life and to help them understand their personal responsibility to offer public witness to their faith...".That was especially important with regard to "the great moral issues of our time: respect for God's gift of life, the protection of human dignity and the promotion of authentic human rights," he said.
The bishops had to ensure that American Catholics had the courage "to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church's participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society."
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "Dressed up in this fancy language are some really dangerous ideas. The pope, underneath all the flim-flam, is promoting theocracy in the United States. He says he supports separation of church and state – except when it doesn't suit him. He says his bishops should, in effect, twist the arms of Catholic politicians into promoting church dogma. And this weaselly concept of 'authentic human rights' (that is, human rights as defined by him), would inevitably remove real human rights from great swathes of the population.
"We know that the Vatican does not approve of human rights for homosexuals, it believes in only limited human rights for women. Its doctrines in relation to contraception, abortion, stem cell research, assisted dying, condoms in the fight against AIDS and other issues are cruel and inhumane.
"He talks of 'radical secularism' and by applying this adjective 'radical' he thinks he then has the right to define what authentic secularism is. But his idea of secularism consists of privileges for the Catholic Church and disadvantage for just about everyone else.
"Such regressive thinking must be resisted."
Expert panel to examine abortion law in Ireland
Posted: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:55
Pro-choice groups in Ireland have expressed hopes that a new expert committee set up by the Government will recommend that the laws on abortion will be relaxed.
The Government has appointed the panel to examine a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that the Irish State had failed to implement existing rights to a lawful abortion albeit only where a mother's life is at risk.
The 14-member expert group – headed by Mr Justice Seán Ryan - consists of consultant obstetricians, GPs, legal experts and senior civil servants. Mr Justice Ryan also headed the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.
It is due to report back to the Government with a range of options within the next six months.
While it is lawful in Ireland for a woman to have an abortion if her life is at risk, following a Supreme Court ruling almost 20 years ago known as the X case, the Government has yet to legislate for this. This failure to legislate was at the centre of a case taken by three women against the State, which the European Court of Human Rights ruled on in December 2010. The court found in favour of one of the women – known only as "C" – who had a rare form of cancer. She feared she would relapse after she became unintentionally pregnant.
