Cambridge stands up to anti-abortionists

Today at 12:30pm, a group of Cambridge students, organised by CUSU Women’s Campaign, gathered outside Senate House in counter-protest to anti-abortion group, abort67.

The group want a repeal of the 1967 Abortion Act that legalised the procedure in Great Britain. Their protesters put up large and graphic images of embryos, which students covered with their placards, with slogans like”Reproductive rights are human rights” and “My body, my choice.”

“Say hey (hey) ho (ho) your backward views have got to go.”

The anti-abortionists used intimidation tactics, holding cameras close to counter-protesters’ faces and shouting verbal abuse.

This protest comes halfway thorough Mental Health Awareness week. Anti-abortion protests are always unwelcome in Cambridge, but their timing on this occasion is particularly poor.

Education

The students carried on regardless, with rousing chants like, “Clap your hands, raise your voice, Cambridge students are pro-choice” and “When our rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”.

Early last month, it emerged that the government would be giving £250,000 to “Life”, an anti-abortion charity. This money is to be sourced solely from the Tampon Tax, which treats sanitary necessities as “luxuries”. A petition on 38degrees has been set up to block the legislation.

“Free. Safe. Legal.”

Cambridge students have firmly shown that anti-abortion protests are not welcome in this city.