This event is part of the Vagina Museum and Sarah Parker Remond Centres (Re)producing Justice programme.
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Join us for a discussion and retrospective on the last 60 years of abortion rights in the UK. The recent amendment to decriminalise abortion, an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, garnered a lot of media attention. It was heralded by some as the most significant legislative victory in reproductive rights since the 1967 Abortion Act. Others, however, were quick to point out the gaps it revealed. For one, the amendment does nothing to protect those who help someone procure an illegal abortion – healthcare workers, doulas, friends. Notably it also specifically enters into law the phrase “no offence is committed by a woman”, thus excluding trans men and others who aren't women seeking abortions for themselves. These facts and others raise doubts about the state of abortion decriminalisation in the UK.
On the panel we have Edem Ntumy, CEO of the Reproductive Justice Initiative, AZ, founder of the Ad'iyah Collective, which supports Muslims and their communities through all pregnancy endings, and Donna Jackman, one of the founders of Leicester Black Sisters and an active member of the National Abortion Campaign.
Speakers
Edem Ntumy (she/her) is the Chief Exec of Reproductive Justice Initiative (Formerly Decolonising Contraception), with over a decade of experience working with communities and advocacy in sexual and reproductive health. A recipient of the 2022 Olive Morris Memorial Award in remembrance of community leader and activist Olive Elaine Morris.
AZ (she/her) is a mixed heritage Muslim and a pregnancy ending doula. She is the founder and one of the community doulas at the Ad'iyah Collective, who support Muslims and their communities navigating abortion, miscarriage and stillbirth. Outside of the doula world, AZ is a writer, researcher and facilitator, with a particular focus on gendered racial violence.
Donna Jackman has over 40 years of experience in community and Youth Development work. Over the last 20
years, she has specialised in the field of Family and Children Services. Her career has been shaped by the need to make a real difference in enabling those communities and individuals who felt marginalised and disenfranchised to have a voice and to pursue their rights in the face of prejudice, discrimination and institutionalised racism. Outside of her professional experience she has been a political activist locally, nationally and globally in the areas of Feminism, Racism, Trade Unions and Socialist Organisations.
🗓️ Thursday 23rd October
⏰ 5.30pm - 7.30pm
📍 TBC (access info)
💸PWYC
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