prevented thousands upon thousands of women dying from backstreet abortions. But as well as being unsatisfactory because it denies women control over one of the most fundamental questions of our lives and over our own bodies, it also gives right wing forces, who want to claw back even the limited rights we have, a great deal of ammunition.
In December 2003, Church of England curate Joanna Jepson was given leave to seek a judicial review against the Chief Constable of West Mercia for his failure to prosecute doctors who carried out a late abortion where the foetus had a cleft lip and palate. It was clear from the media interviews at the time that right-wing anti-abortion groups such as the so-called Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC) were heavily involved in the case. Ms Jepson claims not to be anti-abortion, but seemed happy to have these reactionary organisations
disabled activists have support ed. Ms Jepson.
But we don't know that the real reason for the abo tion was anything to do with disability - this may hav been the only legal ground that could be used. There h been an assumption, including from some pro-choic people that because it was a late abortion the woma must have changed her mind
This is not necessarily true - there are other circum stances where late abortions happen such as when woman doesn't discover she is pregnant until late into he
Disability rights have largely been marginalised by th left and need to be taken much more seriously in fightir for a different world. At the same time we have to cam paign to achieve a situation where it is, in the words of a old slogan "not the church, not the state, women mus decide their fate"
page 18 of the scan
Palestine Paul Brown D espite the much-hyped painful
concessions' of Israel's right wing Likud leadership in February, in the form of supposed closure of settlements, the government and military have in fact been engaging in land seizures in Gaza, including the expulsion of 28 Palestinian families in Dair al-Balah, while leaving nearby settlers in Kfar Durom with their homes and land.
Many Palestinians refuse to move, despite being under almost constant machine-gun fire from the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). The Palestine Centre for Human Rights is appealing the expulsions, but admits that it is probably a futile gesture, as the Israeli 18 soclalst resistance March 2004
Survelliance cameras will be almed beyond the fence to detect approaching dangers tall will extend in long continuous rolls
A ditch 6-8 It (1.8-2,4 m) deep *will impede 10 It. vehicle crossings (3 m) Pyramids of rolled barbed wire standing 6 fl (1.8 m)
Paved road Fine Sand will preserve for border police footprints If anyone tries to pass
WEST BANK Barbed Wire Dirt road for army patrols
Most of the fences
will be wire armed
with electronic sensors
to detect encroachments.
In high-risk areas bullders
will use Solid concrete.
Fine sand implement decisions in cities, villages, camps and neighbourhoods; publishing an accessible press that endorses the Intifada in every form; and emphasizing the links between the Intifada and global struggles against imperial. ism and capitalism.
mprisoned PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat
advocates a pan-Arab resistance movement, almost Nasserite but with a Marxist analysis, that promotes secularism, feminism, and workers' control. While this agenda runs counter to the interests of every Arab government, it does strike a chord with the kind of views being expressed at the recent Cairo conference, and with the movement for global justice