JOIN US
DONATE
JOIN US

Category: solidarity

Hi Katie (sorry I can’t use your real name), I am so so sorry to hear about the terrible time you’ve been having. I used to be an NHS doctor, and as far as I’m concerned it should be the midwife who reported you, not you, who is facing investigation. Every nurse and doctor who works in the NHS is taught from day one that patient confidentiality is an absolute, only to be broken in very specific circumstances. Your circumstance was not one of them, and she had no right to do what she did. It must be unbelievably stressful to have to go through an abortion and then emergency surgery, so to then be faced with criminal charges doesn’t bear thinking about. It makes me very angry that women are not allowed to own their own bodies. It makes me even angrier when I hear about other women as well as men interfering like this. I have been campaigning for women to have free access to abortion services, as well as for women in prisons to have proper access to maternity care. It seems that there has been a sudden increase in the number of women in your situation being prosecuted, which surely has no basis in today’s society, and we have to work hard to stop it. I’m sending you hope and strength and sisterly love, and the strongest wishes that all the charges against you are dropped. Good luck and stay strong, you have done nothing wrong. Diana x

Diana Brighouse

Dear *Katie, the world is unfair, but you are not alone. We will be with you and not let them take your right to choose. I’ve been through abortion and even though I’ve made my decision before becoming pregnant I was made to feel bad about it by people who don’t know me or my circumstances. I don’t regret doing it I just regret that I didn’t tell the people who I dealt with what I think about their opinion. Your body, your choice. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You got this! We will fight for you! Big hugs xxx Sabine

Dear Carla, I’m horrified at what has and is being done to you and feel incredibly angry and sorry about it. Whatever your circumstances, you had the right to choose what you wanted to do with your own body without any rules imposed on you – or any of us. After all it’s not like terminating a pregnancy is ever an easy thing to do, is it? Anyway, while I’m sure it’s of little consolation, please know that there are many many people who don’t judge you for your choices and support you and the abolishing of the arcane laws you were prosecuted under. We’ll continue to fight for your rights and mine and all other women’s. I hope you can continue to be a fighter, too, to get through your sentence and the aftermath. It must be so hard to be away from your kids and I’ll be holding all of you together in my thoughts. Finally, I hope you might allow me to cast my personal protection spell (for me and my loved ones) on you and yours as well: Be good. Be well. Be brave. Be safe. Be kind. And maybe try to have at least one good laugh a day even when there’s not all that much to laugh about. I live with complex PTSD and have found that even slightly forced laughter makes a big difference. It’s like giving your mind and body a little break and pick me up. Big hugs! In love and rage, V. xx

anonymous