Amy, ASN’s Volunteer and Supporter Care Assistant, is joining in to Go the Distance this October. Here she tells us why she’s taking part in our distance challenge to raise money for Abortion Support Network.   I joined ASN in June this year, working across the team supporting with admin and volunteer support, but not working directly with any of ASN’s clients. I’ve…

ASN’s Director Mara Clarke writes about her experiences of supporting Maltese women to access abortions: Since we expanded our services to Malta in February 2019, we have heard from more than 200 people seeking our help accessing abortions. Callers have been girls in their teens and women in their 40s. They have been married, divorced,…

The Abortion Support Network (a UK charity providing practical information and funding for abortion seekers) told us it had received calls from 121 people in Malta between March 2020 and February 2021, up from 90 people who contacted the organisation from Malta the previous year. Malta’s abortion laws are amongst the strictest in the world and have been criticised by multiple human rights…

Last September, gynecologist Isabel Stabile stood outside the Maltese Parliament with a group of activists on In Unlike Poland, where abortion is difficult to access, but still legal in cases of rape and incest, the abortion law in Malta doesn’t make any exceptions — even when the mother’s health is at risk.  As a result,…

On June 24th 2021, the people of Gibraltar voted to change the territory’s strict abortion ban, which held that abortion was punishable by life imprisonment for the pregnant person, and anyone who helped them get an abortion. Abortion is now permitted in the following circumstances:  ‘where termination is needed to prevent “grave permanent” injury to mental or physical health  where…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, around 200 pregnant people from the Republic of Ireland travelled to Britain for abortions in 2020, in the face of significant restrictions on travel, to access the abortion care they needed.   Mara Clarke, director of the Abortion Support Network, which assists women accessing abortion services in Britain, said the organisation had “helped people in all kinds of…

At present, there is no provision in Co Sligo and a round trip of up to 100km to Donegal or Roscommon is required to access a GP twice – three days apart – with the possibility of a third visit if a scan is required.

“We had someone from Cork who had to take the bus to Dublin, only to be turned away at the airport because they didn’t have a Covid test, even though UK regulations don’t require tests for people travelling for urgent medical care,” said Mara Clarke, ASN founder and director.

The Abortion Support Network (ASN), a London-based charity supporting women travelling for abortion services, is calling for “clarity” from the Department of Health as to whether abortion is an “urgent” medical service under the Covid-19 travel regulations.