https://www.gbc.gi/news/hundreds-turn-out-gibraltar-yes-rally-ahead-abortion-referendum
https://www.gbc.gi/news/no-more-shame-says-abortion-stats-should-be-used-inform-not-scaremonger
https://www.gbc.gi/news/abortion-referendum-campaign-officially-starts-tomorrow
https://www.gbc.gi/news/motion-calling-referendum-abortion-law-march-passed-parliament
https://www.gbc.gi/news/abortion-referendum-19th-march-be-proposed-parliament
https://www.gbc.gi/news/parliament-will-look-setting-date-abortion-referendum-end-month
https://www.gbc.gi/news/together-gibraltar-votes-campaign-abortion-referendum
https://www.gbc.gi/news/government-aims-put-abortion-bill-referendum-march-next-year
https://www.gbc.gi/tv/programmes/viewpoint/clips/live-abortion-discussion-81
Together Gibraltar Q&A Session with Panel of Experts – Abortion Referendum (4/3/19)
Part 1: Introduction to our press conference on issues surrounding the abortion referendum with a panel of experts:
Rachel Clarke – Public Affairs and Advocacy Manager at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service
Professor Dame Lesley Regan – Chair of the UK’s Abortion Taskforce and the former President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Steven Hall – Political advisor for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
(Following the links on the Facebook page to see the other videos. 12 in total)
CG Facebook Post (16/10/19)
Election Promises:
Together Gibraltar – will support women offering extended maternity and paternity leave, support for single parents, childcare options, contraception, education and full reproductive rights including sterilisation. Will repeal the referendum.
GSLP/Liberal Alliance – will referendum your human rights.
GSD – will repeal the abortion bill and restrict your human rights.
CG Press Release (4/10/19)
Choice Gibraltar are delighted with the verdict reached by the Supreme Court yesterday (3/10/19) on the Northern Ireland abortion case in favour of womens’ rights.
Both the rulings upheld today and the previous N. Ireland judgement serve to further expose our draconian abortion law as contravening human rights commitments. This vindicates our position as the true legal position of the Supreme Court and not the cherry picked quote by the anti-choice movement.
We would like to clarify that the quote used by the GPLM is taken from the dissenting opinion of Lord Reed. The case was put before 7 justices of the Supreme Court and he was 1 of only 2 who said the law didn’t contravene Article 8 of the ECHR. He was outvoted by the other justices. His comments are not the interpretation of the law as decided by the Supreme Court.
Political parties in Gibraltar can no longer pretend that they are not obligated to pass legislation to allow informed autonomous terminations. A referendum is equally absurd. Choice Gibraltar urge all local parties to follow the guidelines of international bodies such as the UN, UNICEF and RCM, BMA, BPAS and indeed the ruling of the Supreme Court and pass abortion law that safeguards its citizens’ rights.
https://yourgibraltartv.com/society/20037-choice-gibraltar-pleased-with-northern-ireland-abortion-verdict
https://www.parliament.gi/proceedings-of-parliament/video-archive?id=307
You need to go to Friday 12th July 2019 (PM). Skip to minute 9:00 to see the parliamentary debate on the amendment bill on terminations (Crimes Act 2011 Amendment 2019). Referendum announced.
Demo Outside Parliament (12/7/19)
My human rights are not up for debate.
CG Facebook Post (11/7/19)
CG are disheartened to hear about the government’s decision to put women’s reproductive rights to referendum. We’ll be outside parliament tomorrow at 10am alongside No More Shame Gibraltar to show support for Marlene Hassan Nahon, the only politician who has openly stood in favour of our rights.
CG Press Release (11/7/19)
Choice Gibraltar are heartened to hear the news that in the name of an equal society, equal marriage and abortion will be legislated for in Northern Ireland before the 21st October. MPs in Westminster voted 99 against, 332 in favour, to legislate the abortion bill. If Stormont Parliament is not reconvened in the next few months, Westminster will implement this much needed legislation.
We agree wholeheartedly with Labour MP Stella Creasy, who introduced the bill on abortion and said: ‘Thank you to everyone who today stood up for equality in Northern Ireland – whether for same sex marriage or abortion, today we have said everyone in the UK deserves to be treated as an equal.”
Choice Gibraltar believes women in Northern Ireland deserve the same respect and emancipation as their peers in the rest of UK and the Isles. Gibraltar needs to heed this message and as a British Overseas Territory, residents of Gibraltar should have the same human rights. Further, Westminster will go to the vote again next week on a motion to decriminalize abortion and we would like to see this implemented here. Women’s health should never be a matter for the criminal courts.
Choice Gibraltar look forward to the abortion bill finally being introduced in the Gibraltar Parliament. Although we wanted the legislation to go so much further, it is a step in the right direction and hope that soon it will extended to decriminalize abortion. We also hope that women are provided with an appropriate amount of support and information, both in enabling them to make the correct decision for their personal circumstances and in receiving a comprehensive level of health care.
https://www.gbc.gi/tv/programmes/viewpoint/clips/debate-abortion-300519-353
Choice Gibraltar press release (2/5/19)
Choice Gibraltar is disappointed with the bill presented by the govt. Despite extensive arguments and recommendations, including scientific facts and references to recent international human rights declarations, from several pro-choice groups, the command paper was barely amended and the bill really does not go far enough. The opportunity to introduce progressive and forward thinking legislation, that won’t need to be revised in a few short years, is passing us by. Political expediency has been put before the best advice provided by local and international experts, medical professionals and the needs of our community. Once again women and their reproductive rights have been treated as second class citizens.
Instead we will be stuck with what is already a more than 50 year old piece of legislation. Admittedly, a step in the right direction, but as the anti-choice movement helpfully highlighted in their press release of the 2/5/19 a retrograde step. Not only do they state that “The proposed draft bill is almost a duplication of the UK’s 1967 Abortion Act” but they also refer to the (unspecified) 1959 UN Declaration; that’s 60 (sixty) years ago. They completely ignore recent declarations by the UN and their sister organisations WHO (World Health Organisation), CEDAW, and other international entities that categorically state that abortion is necessary for the rights, safety and good of women.
The anti-choice movement, therefore, is stuck in the past. Many, if not most, of their supporters would prefer to turn the clocks back to a time when there was no marriage equality for homosexuals (in fact, when homosexuality was a capital offence), no divorce, no children out of wedlock or when women were not afforded the right to vote or be involved in the public sphere. A time when a woman’s place was in the home. Making babies.
Society has changed drastically since then. Decriminalisation and protection of real persons should be our priority now and not embryos. Not all cells matter. Most (81% as per government of England and Wales Statistics ) autonomous informed terminations in England and Wales occur in the first 10 weeks when the embryo is but a collection of cells. There is no “heartbeat” as the anti-choice wilfully misrepresent at 18 to 22 days after conception. Gynaecologists describe this as ‘throbbing’ since the heart and circulatory system are at an extremely early stage of development. But don’t let facts get in the way of their ultimate goal to subjugate and reduce women to mere vessels.
No one is forcing anyone into abortions but we say, let’s allow the people who find themselves in these difficult positions, of having a safe, decriminalised choice in a world that is not black and white.
https://www.gbc.gi/news/command-paper-proposes-new-threshold-legal-abortions
CG Facebook Post (9/3/19)
The anti-choice movement posted this on International Women’s Day. Women don’t forget you are only worthy as incubators. #beyondbelief #extremists
CG Facebook Post (6/3/19)
Taken our friend Rachel from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service for a tour of our beautiful rock this morning before her meeting with the CM and meeting tonight along with Ruth from the Abortion Support Network and Fiona from the University of Birmingham. Rachel has been a very positive influence providing expert help and experience in advising us on the command response and implications of reproductive service to Gibraltar. NMS organised the talks from all the above.
CG Facebook Post (16/2/19)
#Gibtalks (5/2/19)
Most poignant and relevant part of the #Gibtalks was the conversation heard in the audience by an elderly woman. “My mother had two self-induced abortions using a crochet hook. She nearly died of course.” This is what is being ignored.
http://www.gibraltarpanorama.gi/162258
Excerpt follows:
CG Facebook Post (2/1/19)
The Gib Anti-Choice Movement want to make your life decisions for you. Reproductive choices should be individual.
CG Facebook Post (1/1/19)
If both lives matter equally it is always the female who has to be sacrificed
CG Submission for the Command Paper 25/11/18
CG Facebook Post (20/11/18)
CG have been liaising with a multitude of international bodies and campaign groups to promote best practice in the implementation of the local abortion law. These groups will be sending their representatives to the consultation process and we will be sharing them here and with the local press.
http://www.gibraltarpanorama.gi/159840?format=print
Twitter (30/10/18)
Why copy/paste information from a place that has profit-led healthcare and leaves people who don’t have insurance to die, rather than relevant information for our own socially funded care (i.e. the GHA)? Intelligent debate around our own laws regarding reproductive rights should be relevant to Gibraltar. (Editor addendum: In any case, if health businesses wanted to improve profits they wouldn’t get rid of lifelong customers.)
CG Facebook Post (29/10/18)
This comment was in reaction to our recent poem on late term abortions. Is this a common opinion of those who do not wish to see abortions carried out in Gibraltar? Pregnancy can be life threatening. Women die all around the world because of not being allowed to have terminations. Aside from that, is the very real psychological problems that being forced to carry and birth a non-viable baby can bring as well as having to carry and birth full term pregnancy. The extremists view of forced birth is in no way, shape of form acceptable.
Poem (26/10/18)
What does late term abortion look like?
Late term abortion looks like hopes and dreams of a new family member.
It looks like a new sibling.
It looks like a new grandchild.
It looks like the future.
It looks like 20 weeks of joy and one crushing moment of pain.
It looks like the distress of the sonographer when she avoids your eyes and calls in a colleague.
It looks like the doctor who knows a piece of your heart will be torn when you are told your daughter will not live beyond birth.
It looks like two people thrown together and torn apart in grief.
It looks like a wait and a journey on a plane to an unfamiliar place.
It looks like your toddler having fun with mama but crying at bedtime when the game is old and he wants mummy and daddy.
It looks like alone and waiting for a ‘second opinion’.
It looks like the decision whether to terminate in U.K. and finding a way of bringing the remains home or risking miscarriage and bleeding on the plane.
It looks like breakfast at a hotel when you want to be at home.
It looks like a place you will never visit again without pain.
It looks like needing family and friends comfort and being alone with your grief.
It looks like hoping that the blood will not show through your baggy jeans.
It looks like an empty space.
It looks like coming home to your toddler who is filled with joy and trying not to let him see you cry.
It looks like trying to brush off comments that you can try again.
It looks like hand and footprints that will never be part of your lives.
It looks like the pain you feel when eyes are judging you for something that you would never ever have wished for.
It looks like the pain from graphic pictures that are posted on social media to try and guilt you into not having a termination you never wanted to have.
It looks like the stab of grief that will ease in the day but wake you firmly at night.
It looks like the reality of a few Gibraltarians a year who are forced out of their homeland and the arms of their families, because of outdated criminal laws when it should never be a criminal matter.
It looks like my tears in the mirror.
It looks like me.
!! Anonymous post 4!! (26/10/18)
I suffer from a blood clotting disorder and if I was to get pregnant it could be life threatening to me.I have a family already and I would not be willing to leave my current children without a mother and take the chance of another pregnancy. If contraception were to fail I would seriously consider having an abortion. The problem is that it is not legal here in Gibraltar so I would have to go to Spain. With my condition the abortion would also put me at risk and it could cause me to bleed internally. I would need an injection to thin the blood – yet how could I go to the emergency ward and explain to them what was wrong? It is something that leaves me in fear every single month.
https://www.gbc.gi/news/consultation-period-respect-command-paper-abortion-extended
!! Anonymous post 3!! (3/9/18)
The following is a real life experience from one of our supporters. Out of respect towards the individual we will keep her identity anonymous.
I was about 34 when I decided I really wanted to have another child. As a young mum I didn’t really get the chance to be a proper mum as I always had the family fussing over my baby boy and I didn’t get to be a proper mum. I missed out on a lot of things as I was studying and working and my ex partner was not involved in my son’s life at all. My partner and I tried for 4 years and nothing happened. I have a chronic illness which with pregnancy could worsen and could be life threatening should I have another child but I didn’t care I wanted a baby I wanted a family unit mum and dad together. Eventually we split up and I met my next partner. We also tried for 3 years and we visited a fertility clinic and they said because of my age I was now 38 my eggs were depleted and my disease wouldn’t help me as I don’t absorb any vitamins. I would have had to have gone through IVF and even that might not have worked. So I made the decision to accept the fact I couldn’t have any more children and I left my partner because I knew he deeply wanted his own child and I moved on. I used to see babies in the street and become tearful and emotional all the time. It was a sad time for me but I accepted it. Sometime later I started dating someone, I didn’t want a relationship at the time, I was happy being alone and doing what I wanted to do. After dating him for about 3 weeks while I realized that he was a very violent man who had a drug problem and that’s when I found out I was pregnant. At 45. For me it was a very sad time in my life because under no circumstances could I have this person in my life for the rest of my life and let my child be subjected to his violence and lifestyle. With all the pain in my heart I made the decision to abort at 9 weeks. I went to the clinic where I was informed of the whole procedure and that was it. I don’t regret my decision, I’m not upset about it. I made the right decision for me at the time. I won’t live a life of regret and I don’t cry about it. Bringing up a child at 45 on my own with a serious illness and a father who was violent would have been the worst choice I could have made.
CG Facebook Post (27/9/18)
The Well Person Unit offers all sorts of reproductive information and very importantly FREE CONTRACEPTION with no age restrictions. Get informed and get protected!!
CG Facebook Post (7/9/18)
Making abortion illegal essentially makes a woman’s body the property of the government and anyone who believes in freedom should not be ok with that.
CG Facebook Post (5/9/18)
“Abortion is not a woman’s right, it is a baby’s right to live” This stems from a patriarchal view that women are vessels to reproduce whatever their feelings on the matter are.
CG Facebook Post (5/9/18)
Pro-choice is not pro-abortion – it is letting the individual make an informed choice.
CG Facebook Post (5/9/18)
“How would you feel if you were aborted?” The only reason our lives matter is because we have lived them and created value relationships and memories.
CG Facebook Post (5/9/18)
Gibraltar women have been having abortions in Spain and UK since the 1980’s. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure their healthcare and reproductive rights as a matter of equality. Equality matters. Reproductive rights matter. Women matter.
CG Facebook Post (4/9/18)
“Having an abortion is irresponsible” Having an abortion is more responsible than giving a child up for adoption for someone else to deal with.
CG Facebook Post (3/9/18)
“Don’t have sex if don’t want to become pregnant” Sex doesn’t exist for the sole purpose of reproduction and neither do women.
CG Facebook Post (3/9/18)
“Don’t have sex if you don’t want a baby” Contraception fails. It is completely irrational to stop the sex life of a grown woman because some do not like the idea that a undeveloped foetus is terminated.
!! Anonymous post 3!! (3/9/18)
A story a local lady wanted us to share. So emotional when I read this and so sorry you have had to deal with this in so much secrecy. Together we shall make sure no one has to do this again and every woman will have a support system at their most needed time. #NoMoreShame #prochoicegibraltar #choice #ourlivesmattertoo
CG Facebook Post (2/9/18)
“You can give the baby up for adoption” Adoption shifts the burden of care and finance of an unwanted baby onto the government and into an un-ideal environment. An unwanted baby is still an unwanted baby. In 2018 there were more than 75,000 children under government care. See stats below:
CG Facebook Post (2/9/18)
“Killing a baby” Approximately 92% of abortions are carried out before 13 weeks and two thirds before 8 weeks. At this stage the foetus has no sentience and could not survive outside the womb. #decriminalise
CG Facebook Post (2/9/18)
“Getting an abortion is irresponsible” It is more irresponsible than having a child you are not capable of rearing.
CG Facebook Post (2/9/18)
“You are killing a baby” Anti-choicers use this emotional propaganda to put a foetus at the same level as an actual baby. It is an embryo (ie at an extremely limited level of development) until week 8 of the pregnancy and then a foetus (see our medical facts section). #stopemotionalblackmail
CG Facebook Post (1/9/18)
“Life is precious” Yet most anti-choicers have no problem in killing animals who are living beings with sentience, memory and families. Humans may be more advanced but not at the fetal stage.
CG Facebook Post (1/9/18)
Putting the life of the embryo before that of the mother is a dangerous road. In countries where abortion is restricted, women die and are put into prison for not only abortion but miscarriage. For tourists’ eyes it will seem that Gibraltar still lives in 1920 and is not actually an international player but one still reliant on religion for legislatory issues. #madness #choiceforall #abortionwillstillhappen #embarassed
CG Facebook Post (1/9/18)
“Abortion is Murder”. It may be illegal in Gibraltar but not in 25 other countries in the EU. Furthermore, to have commited murder you would to have malintent, whereas most women will be in a crisis situation. #change the law
Anti-Choice Comments on Facebook (31/8/18)
This is what it boils down to. Morals are subjective and this is certainly not our idea of good ones.
CG Facebook Post (31/8/18)
Do the No Choice Movement prefer Gibraltar women to have their abortions in Spain? #Realitycheck
Gibraltar Women Magazine
The first Gibraltar Women mag in 1996 discussing the lack of reproductive health in the liberal nineties. 22 years later and we are STILL having the conversation and some would still like to keep abortion criminalised with life imprisonment. When is this acceptable 50 years after our British counterparts have their rights. 26/7/18
#gibraltarorvictoria
!! Anonymous post 2!! (25/7/18)
SPD, Post Natal Depression, Anxiety, Iron-level problems, Stretch marks, Scars, Major Surgery, Haemorrhaging.
During my sons labour I haemorrhaged, lost 4 pints of blood, almost died, blood transfusion, sepsis, was left fighting for my life as well as a 74 hour labour, forceps, epidural didn’t work… post traumatic anxiety and depression, memory issues, and long term issues.
Imagine of all that happened because I was forced to have a baby I didn’t want?
When I unexpectedly fell pregnant with my second, where, in basic terms, was supposed to be extremely hard if not impossible. 14 months post natal from my son, my doc who discovered I was pregnant 4 months in straight away said u dont need to do this while i had a full blown panic attack because I was TERRIFIED at the thought of birth again, being in UK was given the option to terminate. I chose to go for it, experience was very different but imagine if I hadn’t felt in control and was forced?
!! Anonymous post 1!! (25/7/18)
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us it’s not easy during current circumstances however so many women can relate to this experience. If you have ever been in this position you are NOT a bad person and many women have gone through this too you are not alone.. 
Anti-Choice Comments on Facebook (19/7/18)
The ‘pro-life movement’ who want to restrict bodily autonomy are making light of Post-Natal Depression and suicide. When you cannot grasp the depth that mental issues can have on an individual, how can you pretend that you can offer support?
Anyone affected by abortion or by these issues please call a trained advisor on GibSams on 116123.
https://www.gbc.gi/news/pro-choice-campaigners-meet-chief-minister
K’s Experience (14/7/18)
I have been advised that given my last 2 complicated deliveries (both C-sections, both high risk) it would be wise for me not to have anymore children. I agree, so I asked to be sterilised after my last child. Their answer was no sorry because you are too young and might want more children. Um… so don’t have more children but just in case you do want more children, here live with the risk. I’m still trying to make sense of that one 🤔🤔🤔
Ps. Note that the surgeon agreed with me completely but again her hands are tied.
Rosie’s post (14/7/18)
I have 3 children.
I’ve had 5 pregnancies (1 miscarriage, 1 termination).
I have PCOS [Polycystic ovary syndrome] and have been under gynae care for 2 years (another app tomorrow) due to pre cancerous cells. I have asked to be sterilized. I am 35 years old. I am adamant about not wanting anymore children.
I’ve been refused the surgery. The grounds being that I could have more children if I wished to.
#reproductive choices
Richard’s post (14/7/18)
For fear of getting my wife pregnant after already having two kids together, we both decided that I should get a vasectomy. I’d rather take the bullets out of the gun than wear a bullet proof vest, makes sense.
I popped in to see my GP at the ICC and inquired about how to go about this, turns out I’m not allowed to have one.
The reason being for this is that my wife (yes my other half, not me) is perfectly healthy and has no health issues associated with the possibility of getting pregnant. It’s pro-life gone mad, it’s like they want people to keep getting pregnant regardless of their situations.
So Gibraltar won’t help me to prevent an unwanted pregnancy and they also won’t help or class it as illegal should the unwanted pregnancy happen!!!
Madness…
https://www.gbc.gi/news/new-group-choice-gibraltar-call-decriminalisation-abortion
Our first press release!!! – https://www.yourgibraltartv.com/society/17106-jun-18-pro-choice-group-launched
Pro-Choice Gibraltar 