BrixtonParent

I wrote a statement this week about how voting for Reform UK would represent the biggest rollback of women’s rights in the UK since before the Abortion Act 1967. I provided evidence. I listed sources. I explained the pattern of how abortion rights are removed gradually through strategic silence and institutional positioning. The responses I received were disturbing. Not because people disagreed with my analysis. Because they agreed with it and celebrated it. Dozens of people commented on my Facebook post saying this was exactly why they were voting Reform. Men and women from all over the country openly stated that women losing reproductive rights was a good thing. They praised the idea of abortion access being restricted. They said this was precisely what they wanted. “Roll on May 7,” they wrote. “Good,” they said. Some said women had too many rights. Some said abortion was murder and should be banned. Some said women needed to face consequences for their choices. Some said the 1967 Abortion Act was a mistake that needed correcting. Misogynistic men and women who vote Reform thought this was worth celebrating. They were gleeful about it. They couldn’t wait for it to happen. These were not fringe voices. These were ordinary people from across the United Kingdom saying openly that they support removing women’s bodily autonomy. They were proud of it. They were voting for it deliberately. And they wanted everyone to know. This is what you are dealing with, United Kingdom. This is not a conspiracy theory. This is not speculation about what might happen. This is people telling you directly what they want to happen and why they are voting to make it happen. But abortion rights are just the beginning. Reform UK has stated they want to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. They want to remove the protections embedded in European law that currently safeguard women’s rights in the workplace, in healthcare, in public life, and in private life. These are not abstract legal frameworks. These are concrete protections that affect women’s lives every single day. The European Convention on Human Rights protects women from discrimination. It protects women from violence. It protects women’s right to privacy, to family life, to fair treatment under the law. Leaving the ECHR removes those protections. It removes the legal framework that allows women to challenge discrimination when it happens. It removes the international accountability that forces the UK government to uphold women’s rights even when domestic political pressure pushes against them. European employment law guarantees equal pay for equal work. It protects women from being paid less than men for doing the same job. It protects pregnant women from being fired. It guarantees maternity leave and maternity pay. It prevents employers from discriminating against women who have children or who might have children. It protects part-time workers, who are disproportionately women, from being treated as second-class employees. It guarantees rights to parental leave, to flexible working, to protection from harassment in the workplace. Reform UK wants to remove these protections. They call it cutting red tape. They call it reducing burdens on business. They call it sovereignty. What it actually means is removing legal protections that prevent women from being exploited, discriminated against, underpaid, and dismissed without recourse. The Working Time Directive limits working hours and guarantees rest breaks. Women, especially women in low-paid work, rely on these protections. Without them, employers can demand unlimited hours with no guaranteed breaks and no overtime protections. The Agency Workers Directive protects temporary workers, again disproportionately women, from being paid less than permanent staff doing the same work. The Pregnant Workers Directive protects women from being dismissed or discriminated against because they are pregnant or on maternity leave. All of these