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The cause

Abortion is a criminal offence everywhere in the UK. In Northern Ireland, England, and Wales it is criminalised under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and in Scotland it is criminalised under common law. In England, Wales and Scotland, the Abortion Act 1967 allows for specific circumstances under which women and their doctors will not be prosecuted - meaning women have to prove to two doctors how the continuation of a pregnancy would involve more risk to her physical and emotional health or the health of her children to be able to obtain an abortion legally. Health professionals are not obliged to sign off an abortion if they have a moral objection to it. The 1967 Abortion Act is not extended to Northern Ireland. Meaning, only in extreme cases such as a threat to a woman's life can an abortion be performed.

This is a ridiculous and humiliating arrangement and it has to come to an end. Women across the UK are treated like second class citizens that cannot make decisions about our bodies and are treated as criminals if we do. This is absolutely in breach of our human rights and denies us bodily autonomy - something men are entitled to through the virtue of being born.

At the beginning of July MPs approved an amendment by a Labour MP, Stella Creasy, to extend access to abortion to Northern Ireland. Creasy's amendment obliges ministers to comply with their human rights obligations. However, this doesn’t change the law in Northern Ireland and depends on devolution not being restored by 21 October. The government is also saying the necessary regulations to extend abortion rights to Northern Ireland may not be ready until the end of 2020.

This isn’t acceptable as women in Northern Ireland still face up to life imprisonment for exercising their right to bodily autonomy and still have to travel to England, Scotland, or Wales to get access to healthcare they are entitled to.

We are walking from North West Wales to Liverpool as it’s often Liverpool NI women go to seeking to end a pregnancy. We are walking a little over 200 miles as this is an approximate distance as the crow flies between Liverpool and Londonderry as many women will start their journey there.

We are a group of women. Some of us have had abortions, some of us haven’t. All of us have friends and family who have had abortions. We are all grateful that we live in a time and in a place that allowed us and our loved ones to access free and safe care when we and those close to us needed it. But we are mad that the same care is not available to women in Northern Ireland and that abortion is still a criminal offence in the whole of the UK.

As well as raising money, the walk will be a personal meditation on what it means to inhabit a public space as a woman. Often conversations about abortion experiences are had behind closed doors, in private spaces, never certain who to trust, how much to tell. Bringing the conversation into public spaces is necessary but can often be threatening, and the violent backlash is a reminder of our inequality. Moral, religious, political opposition to abortion insists on a multitude of arguments and reasoning, but the underlying message is the same: ‘Your body is not yours to own. Your choices cannot be simply for yourself, as this theoretical life is more valuable than your life. You are incapable of making this decision alone.’ Continued control over women's access to healthcare is a thinly veiled guise for the subordination of women. The law should reflect the fact that women are to be trusted to make their own decisions.

Where and when are we walking

We will start our walk in Pwllheli and finish in Liverpool walking along the coast the whole way. It will take us two weeks. We are starting on 17 August 2019.

What we are asking for

We are fundraising £480 to donate to BPAS charity that helps women from Northern Ireland to access abortion in the rest of the UK as well as campaigns to decriminalise abortion across the UK. We chose this sum as it is the typical price a woman would have to pay to be treated privately for a medical abortion at 10 weeks or less. Last year in England and Wales 80% of abortions were performed under 10 weeks and 83% of those were medical abortions (pill only).