- Conference
- 2024 National LGBT+ Conference
- Date
- 19 July 2024
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes:
SisterSong defines reproductive justice as the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.
LGBT+ people experience particular barriers to reproductive justice.
For example:
1)Unequal access to assisted conception for LGBT+ people
2)Lack of access to funded fertility preservation for trans people
3)Ongoing criminalisation of abortion, with a disproportionately higher need to access abortion following sexual crime for lesbian and bisexual women
4)Lack of LGBT+ inclusive Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE)
5)Stigma and harassment experienced by LGBT+ parents, and their children.
Reproductive justice is a workplace issue for example:
A)Assisted conception appointments are often not treated as medical leave
B)There is only a limited right for workers to attend antenatal appointments in surrogacy where they are the intended parent
C)There is no protection under pregnancy discrimination legislation until after the embryo transfer stage
D)Barriers to Reproductive Justice are often class issues, which can be addressed for those who can afford private healthcare
E)Reproductive justice related healthcare is not equally available across the United Kingdom (UK), with LGBT+ people often facing additional bureaucratic barriers and costs.
F)UNISON has existing general policy on reproductive justice topics such as abortion access and fertility treatment.
Conference believes:
I)Healthcare appointments relating to reproductive justice should be treated the same as pregnancy related appointments.
II)Everyone should have equal right to paid time off for reproductive justice related healthcare, for example assisted conception treatment, regardless of jurisdiction.
III)Healthcare services necessary for reproductive justice, such as fertility preservation, assisted conception and abortion must be adequately resourced and available on an equal basis across the UK.
IV)LGBT+ young people deserve adequate RSE.
V)LGBT+ parents, and their children, should be able to live lives free from harassment and stigma.
Conference calls on the national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender plus (LGBT+) committee, working with the relevant committees in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales:
a)To campaign for paid time off for reproductive justice related healthcare appointments.
b)To campaign for equal access to all aspects of reproductive justice related healthcare across the UK.
c)To campaign for LGBT+ inclusive RSE.
d)To ensure related UNISON policy, for example on abortion or childcare, includes the particular needs of LGBT+ people.