Babies and the nuclear family unit are top of the agenda, as the two-child benefit cap is debated and discussed in the Houses of Commons and in British streets alike. Women’s bodies are the battleground on which political fights are attested.
Reproductive rights are ingrained in the fabric of UK society, as free contraceptives have been available to single women on the National Health Service since 1974 . While the Abortion Act of 1967 ensured those women in England, Scotland and Wales could access this healthcare.
So it is extremely concerning when the leader of the right wing Reform UK political party, Nigel Farage, turns his sights on the British electorate’s sex habits. In May of this year, Farage said that allowing abortion up to 24 weeks was “utterly ludicrous.”
Reform UK policies are interested in increasing the UK’s declining birth rates, from calling for the two-child benefit cap to be scrapped to introducing a transferable tax allowance for married couples.
A terrible coupling has happened in the last few months, Farage forged an alliance with the hard-right organisation who fought against abortion rights in the USA, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). In October, The New York Times journalists Jane Bradley and Elizabeth Dias published “They Helped Topple Roe v. Wade. Now Their Sights Are Set on Britain”, an investigation into Farage’s links with the right wing Christian organisation in the United States.
This isn’t the first time Farage has cosied up with Republicans in the States. We’ve all seen the photos of him with President Trump, all smiles in front of a gaudy, gilded door. But this time, the American right are coming for UK women’s rights.
The ADF says on their website that they are “committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, the sanctity of life, parental rights, and God’s design for marriage and family.” The ADF’s website has a “Supreme Court Victories” tally (currently at 16) and a counter for how many attorneys are in their network (5,200+).
This is not a fringe group by any means, and their pairing with the Reform leader should be a concern to women in the UK.
The New York Times argued that Farage’s speech in Congress on September 3, during which he testified against the UK’s freedom of speech rules and censorship, was able to take place due to a “discreet, months-long campaign” by the ADF.
The group are even said to have famously played a hand in rolling back the landmark judgement for women’s rights, Roe vs Wade, which was repealed in the States in 2022.
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As well as the rise of the political right, we are not seeing the rise in a new movement: pronatalism. Pronatalism is the belief that having babies is not only a worthy and honourable thing, but an act that is for the good of the nation.
In 2023, a report released by the ONS showed that the national death rates surpassed birth dates for the first time since the 1970s. Last year however, the death rates dipped below the rate at which Brits are having babies. Still – reproduction is a top talking point amongst the right wing.
A YouGov poll, released in 2023, showed that the overwhelming majority of British people supported abortion rights, with 87% of respondents saying that the reproductive healthcare should be available in the UK. When put to the poll, the question of the 24-week limit was also largely supported, with 49% responding that the current limit is ‘about right’.
While the UK are still in favour of reproductive rights, it’s only sensible to be concerned by the rise of the political right and their close proximity with those who wish to restrict women’s access to abortion. Speaking with The News Agents, the NYT journalist Bradley said that “there’s a danger in complacency,” in regards to this group’s potential influence on the UK’s abortion rights.
