Public and Commercial Services Union

Motion A22 was carried NEC Attitude: support

1.This conference reaffirms its support for a woman’s right to choose, and notes the motions were passed at Conference 2005 which supported the continuation of the existing legal position, and called for improvements in access to abortion services through the NHS.

2.Conference welcomes announcements by the BMA, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and other professional bodies to support the current legal protection for women. However Conference is concerned at sensationalist tabloid reporting of the issues, wrongly suggesting that scientific breakouts give cause for a reduction in the legal time limit.

3.Conference believes that the most efficient and effective way to campaign on these issues in accordance with PCS policy is by affiliation to the national pro-choice organisation Abortion rights, at a cost of £175 per year. The aims of Abortion Rights are:

• To secure changes in law and practice to ensure that women in the UK have equal access to safe, legal free abortion on request.
• To improve the quality of women’s experience of abortion.

4.Conference calls on the NEC to work with Abortion Rights and other pro-choice organisations to:

• Defend the current legal upper limit for abortion at 24 weeks.
• Ensure that workers in sexual health and abortion services, many of whom are trade union members, are free to carry out their work without fear of abuse or attack.
• Make earlier access to abortion easier for women.

Motion A23 was carried, NEC Attitude: support

This Conference notes with concern the number of people who have died in state custody at the hands of the police, the prison service, immigration detention centres or psychiatric hospitals.

Conference is concerned as work undertaken by the Charity Inquest demonstrates that where sudden and unexplained deaths are at the hands of the state, the victims’ families and/or friends find themselves greatly disadvantaged by institutional processes as there is a lack of transparency in components of the Criminal justice system, leading to injustice.

Inquest works with families to counter silence and secrecy surrounding controversial deaths with a view to finding out what happened and where responsibility lies. Inquest also provides specialist legal advice and undertakes campaigning work to bring about changes in legislation to help secure justice for victims of sudden deaths involving the state.

Conference believes that the work of Inquest should be supported and agrees that the union should affiliate to Inquest on a national basis at a cost of £100 per annum and also encourages branches to make donations to support Inquest.

Guillotined: A24