Abort67 is a fundamentalist Christian anti-choice group that operate in the UK. Recently, they have been staging bi-weekly protests to harass women entering a reproductive health clinic in Brighton. Members of this group have been physically encircling women, filming them on cameras, and calling them “murderers” – as well as showing them extreme graphic images of late-stage aborted foetuses, and giving out medically incorrect information about abortion. They also set up displays at sixth form colleges, just to reach the largest possible audience of young, vulnerable women with their particular brand of “education”.
The group is funded by American far-right group The Center for Bioethical Reform, who use similar tactics over in the states, but the group was founded by members of the Jubilee Church in Worthing. The church leader also supports the intimidating actions of Abort67, and agrees that abortion is, in his own words, “worse than the holocaust”.
Activists from Worthing, Brighton and the surrounding area joined together on Sunday 15th April to offer their congregation an alternate viewpoint. We handed them a 3000-signature petition asking them to remove their support for Abort67, and maintained a presence outside during their service. It was a really long service and it was pretty cold out, but fortunately since this was billed as the “Carnival for Choice*”, we entertained ourselves by dancing around to music and chatting. A nice lady from the SWP tried to recruit me. At one point there was a tombola. It was great.
Some of the older members of our protest were telling stories about women they knew who had back-alley terminations before the 1967 abortion act. One nearly bled to death in her own living room when she was just a teenager. These stories remind us what we’re fighting for – the kind of world that groups like Abort67 want to bring back.
I hope Abort67 takes note of our tactics – we showed good practice by remaining at a safe distance, refraining from showing them disturbing images, and not bothering people who were using the building for other reasons – and at no point did we intimidate them individually. They had a police presence at their service to help them feel safe – the vulnerable women they harass don’t have such a luxury.
*n.b. I would recommend reading Tech Tools for Activists for alternatives to Facebook for organising.