Abortion campaigners hold silent protest at Tynwald ceremony

Thu, 06 Jul 2017

Picture from Handmaids IOM Facebook page

A group calling for changes to the Island's abortion laws made a silent protest at the Tynwald Day ceremony.

Handmaids IOM say women should not have their reproductive choices determined by money or class.

The group's name is a reference to the Margaret Atwood novel The Handmaid's Tale, which is about a society which includes a class of women called handmaids, who are kept solely for reproductive purposes.

The campaigners wore red robes like those worn by the handmaids in the TV adaptation of the novel, and stood in silence in St John's during yesterday's ceremony.

Abortions are illegal in most cases in the Isle of Man, forcing women seeking a termination to travel off Island for a private procedure in the UK at their own expense or illegally import abortion pills.