Latest news with #ShelaghFogarty
The Independent
a day ago
- Politics
- The Independent
We still need to have difficult conversations about abortion
My mother remembers that, when she was a child, a friendly woman, probably in her thirties, lived next door. One day, that woman was gone. Another neighbour had helped her carry out a 'backstreet abortion' – in the days when terminating a pregnancy was illegal but coathangers were not – and she'd bled to death in her own home. I don't even know her name. But I thought of that poor woman this week when MPs voted overwhelmingly to stop women in England and Wales being prosecuted for ending a pregnancy outside the law – for instance, after 24 weeks. Thank goodness, I thought, we live in a nation where women no longer have to risk death or imprisonment in desperate situations. But if there's one thing I've learnt from a decade of writing about abortion – speaking to women, joining pro-choice marches and questioning anti-abortion protesters holding rosary beads and praying outside clinics – it's this. Whichever side you're on (and it's not always black or white), it's easier to make your case if you've engaged with those who don't agree with you. In this deeply emotive debate, talking it out is not only helpful but essential. So, on this heatwave weekend, if you're going to a family gathering or having barbecue with friends, and the topic comes up? Don't shy away from it. It's why I listened this week as LBC presenter Shelagh Fogarty told listeners of her lunchtime radio show: 'I am horrified by what happened in the Commons yesterday… I feel sad and deeply worried.' I expect many of us will have a woman in our lives who feels this way about Tuesday's vote, which saw MPs give abortion law its biggest overhaul in 50 years. No longer will women in England and Wales be prosecuted using an 1861 law designed for Victorian backstreet abortionists. Women will no longer be pulled from their hospital beds following a miscarriage and investigated on suspicion of causing their own late abortion (yes, this happened, and recently). But I also know that not everyone feels the same way, even my fellow women. You might know one of them – your mum, grandmother or aunt; a friend, sister or colleague. We need to be able to have these conversations with each other and not avoid it out of shame or fear (or how ever do we hope to have them with men?) So here's your basic toolkit for talking to a woman in your life who feels worried about what decriminalisation means. First, don't approach them with a 'you're so ignorant' stance – tempting though it might be – especially an older woman. They fought many of these battles first, or have had decades to think about them. Softly, softly. It's also best to shelve any arguments over when a clump of cells becomes a foetus or becomes a baby – if you disagree on that straight away, it's probably game over. Fogarty mentioned 'Sarah', who called her show to share how she'd experienced mental health issues at 35 weeks pregnant and felt the only way out was an abortion. It had helped Fogarty understand, she said, how 'demanding, exacting and desperate a pregnancy can be for some women'. That's what you're going for: compassion and an appreciation that no woman who procures her own abortion, late into a pregnancy, is doing so just because they can. It's not 'abortion on demand'. These women – and there are very few, around 0.1 per cent of all abortions each year – are vulnerable, backed into a corner, sometimes being coerced. They need help, not prison. So talk about Nicola Packer, who took abortion medication thinking she was less than 10 weeks pregnant and, when she went to hospital and discovered she was actually 26 weeks, was thrown in the back of a police van. She was finally cleared last month after a criminal trial. Or Carla Foster, who was jailed in 2023 after taking abortion pills between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant and at a time of serious distress. She was sentenced to 28 months and denied access to her other children, one of whom has special needs. She was freed after a public outcry, but not cleared. It's hard to see how locking these women up does anything useful. Deter others? The tiny number who are so very desperate enough to do this won't be deterred, though they may be put off from seeking medical care. And it's heartbreaking to think of women suffering the tragedy of miscarriage or stillbirth being treated with suspicion, not sympathy. 'Even if you're opposed to abortion, you can understand why the law shouldn't be used in that way,' says Katherine O'Brien from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. Next: demystify. I've seen one too many social media posts saying 'abortion is now decriminalised in the UK up to the day of birth'. Except, it isn't. The Abortion Act 1967 requires a termination to be approved by two doctors and it can be performed until 24 weeks (10 weeks for pills by post), unless there are exceptional circumstances such as the woman's life being at risk. That still stands. A doctor who performs an abortion after 24 weeks, without there being exceptional circumstances, can be prosecuted. Now, a woman who ends her own pregnancy after 24 weeks, or without two-doctor approval, cannot. Stay calm. But if they can't? If language like 'murderers' or 'evil' comes up? Take a moment or agree to continue the conversation another time. You can't pretend the other side doesn't exist, but you can be safe in the knowledge that you're on the right side of history.
Daily Mirror
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
LBC presenter stuns listeners as they're caught swearing at caller while live on air
LBC radio presenter Shelagh Fogarty shocked her listeners this afternoon when she was caught swearing under her breath while taking part in a call-in session on air A presenter on LBC radio was caught swearing under their breath while taking a call with a listener. Radio fans where shocked when Shelagh Fogarty made the remark during this afternoon's show. The presenter and journalist hosts the 1-4pm weekday slot on the channel and often takes calls from viewers as they discuss the day's talking points. However, Shelagh stunned her listeners this afternoon as she muttered a swear word under her breath. A listener shared their shock as they posted: "Just heard Shelagh Fogarty on @LBC mutter the words 'F***ing hell' under her breath. "She obviously really didn't agree with the caller but still." It wasn't the only listener to have heard as someone added: "Same." "Had my buds in, was really clear Of all the things to swear about, very telling," another added. A listener agreed as they wrote: "Yup. She did!" Another quipped: "Heard it too lol." It's not the first time LBC fans have been taken aback by antics live on air. Earlier this year, an American journalist was booted off the channel. It came after he supported Donald Trump' s ludicrous claim that diversity hiring was to blame for a tragic plane crash in the US. Iain Dale branded Kurt Schlichter a "numbskull" and ordered for him to be taken off air after the columnist, who is also a trial lawyer and a retired Army infantry colonel, ranted about the unevidenced theory. The radio presenter said he "never" wanted to talk to the American again and said he was the sort of person that makes the US look "ridiculous" on the world stage. The pair later publicly argued on social media platform Twitter /X, where Dale called Schlichter an "obnoxious, rude, offensive" bigot. Speaking on LBC radio, Schlichter hit out at diversity programmes as being a tick-box exercise. He said: "When you choose people because you're checking blocks, whether colour or sex or, for God's sake, severe psychological disability, you're going to get losers." After being repeatedly grilled, he at one point was forced to admit there was no evidence that the pilots or anyone at the airport control tower was from a diverse background. Yet he still continued to support Mr Trump's theories. Dale told him: "Do you think it's appropriate for the President of the United States, within 24 hours, when you have 67 families grieving - is it really appropriate to indulge in this unevidenced speculation, when, surely what he should be doing is encouraging the flight investigators to get to the truth?" A furious Dale later cut him off and started calling to a staff member off-screen: "Can you get this numbskull off our programme please. I never want to speak to him again. He is the kind of person that makes America look ridiculous on the world stage." The Mirror has approached LBC for comment.
