Abortion: right-wing roadshow rumbles towards Cardiff

If someone made a film called “Ann Widdecombe – Passion for Life” you’d no doubt assume it was a comedy. But there is nothing funny about the Passion for Life roadshow which is heading for Cardiff on March 4th. Widdecombe and her cronies from an unholy alliance of anti-abortion groups aim to set the clock back to the time when women had no rights over their own bodies.

The Passion for Life tour has been inspired by the HFE (human fertilisation and embryology) bill currently going through parliament, which updates legislation for assisted reproduction and the regulation of the use of embryos in research and therapy. Though the bill is not specifically concerned with abortion, it has been subject to a number of right-wing amendments which aim to further weaken the provisions of the 1967 Abortion Act.

No-one should be in any doubt about the ultimate aim of Widdecombe, the Christian Medical Fellowship, Life, Care and the Right to Life Trust. It is the criminalisation of abortion. And if anyone wants to know the consequences of that, just ask the women of Northern Ireland, where abortion has never been legalised.

The hypocrisy of the anti-abortion lobbyists is staggering. If they really want to cut down the number of abortions, why are they opposed to contraception? Why are they opposed to sex education in schools? Answer: because they still hold to the medieval belief that sex itself is the enemy, and that sexual relationships should be only take place within the jurisdiction of priests, judges and politicians.

Permanent Revolution uncompromisingly support a woman’s right to choose in the matter of abortion. We believe the battle against Widdecombe and her ilk should not merely be a defensive one. We stand for the following:

* For a woman’s right to choose
* No to the time limit – as early as possible, as late as necessary
* End the need for doctors’ permission
* Allow appropriately trained nurses to perform medical and early surgical abortions
* End the restriction on where abortion can take place
* NHS funding to ensure full and free access to abortion for all
* for an expansion of sex education, contraceptive services and condom provision

We call on all those opposed to the anti-abortion crusade to unite to picket Widdecombe’s Cardiff meeting, which takes place at the City Temple, Cowbridge Rd East, 7.30pm. Anyone interested in so doing can contact us here.

STOP PRESS: The picket will take place from 6.30pm, Tues 4 March.  Indications are it will be large.

More details on the HFE bill and amendments at our main site and www.abortionrights.org.uk. For a thorough overview of the arguments around abortion, read this article.

St Athan protest creates more wind from Big Rod

For a man supposedly fluent in both Welsh and English, Rhodri Morgan sometimes struggles to make any sense at all. His comment on the anti-St Athan protest at the Senedd on Jan 17 was a prime example:

“The reference to Raytheon and cluster bombs by campaigners is a simple guilt by association argument with absolutely no supporting evidence”

Translation anybody?

As we have already pointed out on this site, Raytheon most certainly do make the delivery systems for cluster bombs, and, indeed, depleted uranium weapons. How do we know this? Because they admit it themselves!

Or maybe the chief clown at the Cardiff Bay circus intends a different meaning: that the rest of the Metrix consortium, and the Welsh Assembly government, cannot be held responsible for the actions of their business partners.

Does anyone else in Wales share this bizarre view?

Our great leader goes on to conclude:

“They should be ashamed of themselves for using such a smear as a substitute for intelligent argument”

Psychologists call such a statement projection.

The St Athan campaign should perhaps be grateful the protest got any press coverage at all, given the craven attitude of the media towards the St Athan development and its willing repetition of the lies about how many jobs it will create in South Wales. Once again the BBC failed to report the action, even through its online news: the truth is that BBC newsrooms have existed in a state of paranoia since the Hutton Report – not the fault of individual journalists, most of whom undoubtedly hold the report in the same contempt as the rest of us – but of a management determined never again to incur the wrath of its paymasters.

The Senedd demo, though fully justified, was a small one: only to be expected for a protest on a weekday lunchtime. Congratulations to all who took part, however – the occasion’s been marked, and we can now look forward to a major demo in the Spring which even the BBC will be unable to ignore, however much big Rod might wish it.

Download St Athan campaign materials from our resources page. 

St Athan protest at Senedd

Stop press – St Athan campaign resources now available for download at this site! See Resources page.

Thursday 17 Jan marks the anniversary of the announcement that the Metrix consortium had successfully bid for the contract to build a privatised military academy in South Wales. The announcement was celebrated by Wales First Minister and renowned ’socialist’ Rhodri Morgan with a champagne-popping photo-opportunity outside the Senedd (Welsh Assembly building) in Cardiff. It was also celebrated by the US military-industrial complex, in the shape of the sinister Carlyle Group (ex-director George W Bush), who three weeks later sold their shares in Qinetiq, key players in the Metrix consortium, having seen them rocket on the stock market.

It was almost as if the Carlyle Group knew that the Metrix bid was sure to succeed – not that we would possibly suggest any underhand dealing in the matter!

The anniversary will not go unmarked by the campaign to stop the military academy at St Athan, who invite everybody who does not want to see public money handed to arms dealers to join them at 1pm outside the Senedd in Cardiff Bay. This will merely be the start of an escalating campaign against the academy, which will include meetings around the UK and a major demo in April supported by the Stop the War coalition.