Abortion in the UK

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

Society, Sex, Scandal, Education, History

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2022

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As the right to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy is challenged on the other side of the Atlantic, today Betwixt the Sheets we are looking at the history of abortions here in Britain.

This is the second episode in our two-part series on abortion in the US and the UK.

First, Kate speaks to Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women, about the history of abortion law in the UK, and the significance of harrowing case of 'the horse with a green tail’ in the journey to legalising abortion.

Kate is then joined by Diane Munday, an abortion rights activist who became active in the movement in the 1960s, and believes that her work is not yet done.

*WARNING there is discussion about abortion, sexual assault and death in this episode*

Produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee.

Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society. A podcast by History Hit.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Everyone leaves a legacy.
0:02.2	But a legacy can change over time as new generations
0:05.6	re-examine old preputations.
0:07.6	From Wundery and Gohanger podcasts, I'm F4hersh.
0:11.0	I'm Peter Frankapan, and in a brand new series,
0:14.0	we're exploring the lives of some of the biggest characters in history,
0:17.4	from Napoleon to Picasso.
0:19.2	And asking, what does their past tell us about our present?
0:23.4	This is legacy.
0:24.7	Follow now wherever you get your podcasts.
0:30.0	Hello, my lovely Bitwixters.
0:34.6	This is Kate Lister jumping in for quite a serious fair dues warning for today's episode.
0:39.1	We are talking about the history of abortion in the UK.
0:42.9	This is quite a tough subject, and it's definitely quite an emotional episode.
0:47.6	So if this isn't something that you're comfortable with,
0:50.1	if you want to just give this one a swerve,
0:51.8	there's plenty of other episodes in our back catalogue for you to be listening to,
0:55.6	and don't worry about it at all, I'll catch you in the next one.
1:00.0	There's been a lot of news about abortion in the United States recently.
1:09.2	After the Supreme Court decided to overturn Roe v. Wade,
1:12.6	leaving millions of women across America without access to safe abortion.
1:17.1	This is the second installment in our two-part series about the history of abortion,
	...

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