Letter To America

Dear United States of America,

We are shocked and saddened, but not surprised, to learn that the Supreme Court looks likely to seek to overturn Roe v Wade - the latest and most serious attack on the abortion rights that you have held for over five decades. We are writing from Northern Ireland to offer you our solidarity. Having battled an abortion ban here, we believe it is incredibly important to receive local and international support when people are denied their fundamental rights. 

Despite the increasing attacks on abortion access, birth control and women’s health care over recent years, politicians and pundits reassured us all that those hard-won rights could never be lost, that there could be no going backwards. But we have spent decades pleading with politicians in Northern Ireland and the UK to address these human rights abuses and, although our persistence and determination has delivered decriminalisation and safety, we still don’t have full access to the healthcare that one in four women will need during their lives.

So we will continue to work together, supporting abortion funds  to cover the additional costs abortion seekers face when forced to travel across state or international borders. We will continue our strong relationships with online abortion pill providers, such as Women on Web and Women Help Women who provide a safe option for those who fall through the cracks and cannot travel up to 13 weeks; those in coercive control relationships, with disabilities, with precarious jobs without leave, unsure immigration status, lack of access to finance, and more. 

We have been the people offering advice and help to women and pregnant people who need abortions; finding ways to share the information that helps the most people without getting ourselves into trouble. We know what it is like to be criminalised for helping people, having our homes searched and our workplaces raided, risking arrest.

This is already the reality for those in many states and may soon become so in many more. Although the vast majority of both Americans and Northern Irish people think that abortion should be legal, those intent on denying women and pregnant people access to abortion healthcare may inform the police of what they think is ‘illegal behaviour’. You really have to know who you can trust with the information about your medical procedure, if you access pills at home.

Our experience, like yours, shows that every generation must continue the battle to win and to safeguard our fundamental rights to make decisions about our own bodies and lives, and to dismantle the harmful stigma and extreme misogyny that underlies abortion bans. It’s physically and mentally exhausting for all those seeking, providing and advocating for abortion healthcare - but we cannot and will not stop.  

The assaults on our dignity, rights and lives continue, but please know - we see you; we are you; we stand with you and will continue to hold each other up until every women and pregnant person has access to the abortion care they need.

In solidarity, 

Alliance for Choice