People Before Profit enthusiastically welcomes the announcement by Treasury Minister Philip Hammond that in future women from the North will be able to have abortions in Britain free under the NHS.
“This still means that women from here will have to pay for their travel, putting them at a disadvantage compared with women from England, Scotland and Wales,” said People Before Profit spokeswoman, Fiona Ferguson.
“We will continue to fight to end this discrimination.
“Not every woman is in a position to travel – asylum seekers, women in controlling, abusive relationships, women living in poverty, etc. This anomaly remains and is unacceptable.
“But in the meantime, we recognise today’s announcement as a significant advance. It shows once again that vigorous public campaigning can shift the agenda, even on the so-called ‘difficult’ issues.
“We are under no illusion about Hammond’s reasons for making this announcement. Saving his party’s skin and the DUP from embarrassment will have been more important to him that the reproductive rights of women.
“The real credit goes to the the thousands of women here who have fought for decades in the face of relentless hostility to vindicate a woman’s right to choose.
“We have no doubt that the women’s movement, pro choice organisations and radical parties like People Before Profit will take new heart and struggle on until we have won a woman’s right to control her own body.”
