Abortion is illegal in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Last year, a woman in Northern Ireland was prosecuted under this law, having been reported by her housemates for ordering abortion pills on the internet.

Every year about 4,000 Irish women travel to Britain for abortions, incurring the cost of flights, accommodation and having to pay privately for the procedure itself. The Abortion Support Network gives practical advice on how to arrange the least expensive abortion and travel to England, and gives grants towards the huge cost - sometimes up to £2,000.

Abortion is a routine medical procedure that one in three of us has in our lives. Yet it is criminalised because of state misogyny, patriarchal control and Catholic nonsense. 

So I'm running the Edinburgh Marathon to raise money for the Abortion Support Network - please give generously, it's going to be hard!