<![CDATA[Jezebel: nadine dorries]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jezebel.com.png <![CDATA[Jezebel: nadine dorries]]> http://jezebel.com/tag/nadinedorries http://jezebel.com/tag/nadinedorries <![CDATA[Abortion Rights Upheld In Virginia, England]]> Good news for choice internationally! A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that Virginia's ban on late-term abortions is is unconstitutional, reports the Washington Post. The ban was originally passed by the Virginia assembly in 2003, despite protests from the state's then Governor, Mark R. Warner. The notoriously conservative 4th Circuit Court of Appeals struck the law down in 2005, but it was revisited when the Supreme Court upheld bans on some late term abortions last year. The 4th Circuit did not reverse its decision to throw out the ban because, according to the WaPo, it "imposes an undue burden on a woman's right to obtain an abortion." Across the pond, Britain's parliament voted yesterday to keep the legal limit on abortions at 24 weeks, even though Tory MP Nadine Dorries and other conservatives have been rallying to lower the limit to 20 with a campaign called "20 Reasons for 20 weeks."

As Parliament was in session yesterday, pro-choicers protested outside, chanting "Not the church, not the state, women must decide their fate." Snappy! The Guardian points out that the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the Royal College of Nursing and the House of Commons science and technology committee all supported the 24 week limit, refuting many of the 20 reasons conservatives were using to further their argument.

Court Strikes Down Virginia Abortion Ban [Washington Post]
No Shift In British Abortion Law [New York Times]
Now Is The Time To Decriminalise Abortion, Says Pro-choice Lobby [Guardian]

Earlier: Conservative British MP Calls America "The Abortion Capital Of The World"

]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5010167&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Conservative British MP Calls America "The Abortion Capital Of The World"]]> To quell the rising rate of abortion in Great Britain, Tory MP Nadine Dorries has begun a campaign to reduce the limit for late-term abortions from 24 weeks to 20 weeks. Dorries' snappy marketing campaign to push this piece of legislation is called "20 Reasons for 20 Weeks." The right-wing Daily Mail published all 20, and most of Dorries' tactics include the display of the sad-teeny-feet of babies born before 24 weeks. Zoe Williams of the Guardian pokes holes in these 20 Reasons, calling them "so flawed, often so illogical, so savagely misogynistic and so repetitive." Here's just one example of Dorries' and the DM's tenuous handle on the truth: they say that "two-thirds of GPs support a reduction in the time limit," but Williams points out that 77% of the British Medical Association voted to keep the limit as is. Dorries argues that "If we don't [lower the time limit for abortion] there is no question that we will overtake America in the next couple of years, making us the abortion capital of the world." But is America really the abortion capital of the world?

Dorries' calls America "The Abortion Capital of the World" because the rate of abortion per 1,000 women is 19.4 to Britain's 18.3 (Australia's is the highest in the world, at 20.0). The Daily Mail has a chart comparing abortion laws in 9 different countries; in it, the newspaper lists the "Upper Limit" of legally-acceptable abortions in the U.S. to be 26 weeks. But the reality is that getting an abortion after 12 weeks in many states is outright impossible.

According to NARAL, the pro-choice organization, "23 states have unconstitutional and unenforceable bans that could outlaw abortion as early as the 12th week of pregnancy, with no exception to protect a woman's health." In addition, "15 states have unconstitutional and unenforceable near-total criminal bans on abortion." Zoe Williams points out that "If you really wanted more abortions to take place earlier in the pregnancy, then you would work towards improving access to terminations on the NHS." Similarly, if Americans really wanted fewer late term abortions, they would provide better sex education in public schools and easy and cheap access to birth control. As we said earlier, 87% of counties don't even have access to an abortion provider. And anyway, Dorries is just picking on America because we're so loud and crass and angsty over the abortion issue. If she were really being accurate, she'd go after those abortion-happy Aussies, who "kill babies" even more than we do.

Britain Is 'Becoming The Abortion Capital Of The World' Claims Tory MP Fighting To Lower Legal Limit [Daily Mail]
Fact, Fiction And Foetuses [Guardian]
Abortion Bans After 12 Weeks [NARAL]
We Had Our Babies Under The 24-week Abortion Limit - And They All Survived [Daily Mail]

Earlier: Pro-Life Teen Says "I Feel Like We're All Survivors Of Abortion"

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