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Ruth Fletcher

@ruthfletcher.bsky.social

520 followers 510 following 100 posts

Legal academic and feminist interested in reproducing life otherwise at Queen Mary University of London, and elsewhere | #Repealedthe8th | Chairperson, Abortion Support Network | Branch committee, QMUCU | Leverhulme Research Fellow

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Ruth Fletcher @ruthfletcher.bsky.social · Jul 27

A note from me on the significance of the recent move partially to decriminalise #abortion in England and Wales

Against a backdrop of rising prosecutions for ‘later’ pregnancy endings, #decrim in Northern Ireland through human rights mechanisms, and uneven commitment to decriminalisation as a whole

Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · Jul 21

British MPs recently decriminalised abortion-seekers. But this success occurred in a Bill that threatens to criminalise poverty and restrict protest rights.

RUTH FLETCHER explains on what a holistic legal approach to reproductive freedom ought to look like.

verfassungsblog.de/decriminalis...

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Center for Reproductive Rights Europe @reprorightseur.bsky.social · 3h

Across Europe, 43 of 49 countries now allow abortion on request during early pregnancy. A growing number have reformed laws in the past decade to expand access.
Learn more in our 🆕 report 'Europe Abortion Laws 2025: Policies, Progress and Challenges' 👉 reproductiverights.org/europe-abort...

Reposted by Ruth Fletcher

sianushka.bsky.social @sianushka.bsky.social · 3h

Great to see so much good reporting on the Christian nationalist and far right threats to women’s rights and the influence of foreign anti abortion interests on the UK right

Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 4h

How a Democracy for Sale story about US Christian Right funding prompted a @nytimes.com investigation into the links between Nigel Farage, Reform UK and the Alliance Defending Freedom.

So good to speak to the peerless Jane Bradley:

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/nigel-fara...

Nigel Farage and the foreign influence threat

How US anti-abortionists are supporting Reform, and why we need to talk about Russian influence, with the New York Times’ Jane Bradley.

democracyforsale.substack.com

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Darren Leathley @dmleathley.bsky.social · 4d

Catherine Connolly wonders why there aren't hills 1 through 15. #SmearTheBejaysus #SmearTheBejaysis

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🎃👻David 👻🎃 @rebelalliance77.bsky.social · 5d

Ah here. Hurling n all??

#Áras25

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Emma Rogan 🇵🇸 @emmadragon.bsky.social · 3d

Very much appreciate @catherinegalway.bsky.social on @rteradio1.bsky.social giving a wider lens, incl. Peace Process, GFA & community response in NI, without overtly centring herself & her personal experience.

Elucidating in all the ways needed 🤩☘️

#spéirghorm #Áras25 #IrishPol #ConnollyforPrez

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💀 emmaaaaagh burns 🔥 @betaburns.bsky.social · 1d

People don't realise how malicious the 'reforms' proposed by Heather Humphreys to disability supports were. Very few people appreciate the work put in by disabled activists to resist those reforms or the lasting damage caused. No apology or even acknowledgement, HH is not a President for all #Áras25

Daniella Bella @daniemililly.bsky.social · 8d

I was one of the leaders of Scrap The Green Paper because I & my friends were suicidal after learning proposals for ~84% of disabled to be pushed into work

I've not recovered from pushing myself to fight it, nor my friends

I'm so broken & Humphreys wants a house in the park on our backs

#áras25

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Centre for Law & Social Change @lawsocialchange.bsky.social · 1d

We are back with our 25-26 events!
🎞️🎥Join us on Wednesday, 22 October, at 7-10pm, for our Liberation Film Club!
We will watch/discuss Defiance: Fighting the Far Right, the story of how - from 19761981 - Britain’s Asian community stood tall against far-right.
📍DLT Main Building, SOAS. All welcome!

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Irish Legal News @irishlegal.com · 5d

Upcoming equality legislation should extend protection from discrimination to cover socio-economic status, an Oireachtas committee has recommended.

Oireachtas committee backs inclusion of socio-economic discrimination in equality bill

Upcoming equality legislation should extend protection from discrimination to cover socio-economic status, an Oireachtas committee has recommended.

www.irishlegal.com

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Irish Legal News @irishlegal.com · 5d

Italy did not violate Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights by removing a woman from the birth certificate of a child born in Italy to same-sex parents by means of assisted reproduction abroad, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.

ECtHR: No breach of Article 8 where Italy annulled birth certificate naming same-sex parents

www.irishlegal.com

Reposted by Ruth Fletcher

Sean Rehaag @seanrehaag.bsky.social · Sep 2

Yeah, no thanks @lawandsociety.bsky.social

I mean, I love SF

But even if I was willing to spend $ in the US right now, travel to the US is not safe for anyone publicly critical of Trump -- which includes all law & society scholars who I would want to engage with

Screenshot of email conference invitation with the following text:

LSA 2026 Annual Meeting Submissions Now Open!

>> Click Here to Visit our 2026 Conference Website!

>> Submit an Abstract or Session!

Dear Sean,

We are pleased to invite you to participate in the 2026 LSA Annual Meeting that will take place in San Francisco, California, USA from May 28-31, 2026! The meeting will be hosted at the Hilton Union Square. This year’s sessions will take place in-person.

The deadline for our Call for Submissions is October 21, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. ET (USA and Canada). The Program Committee welcomes any scholar studying sociolegal activities to submit an individual paper or session proposal. We recommend scholars interested in proposing a session with a creative format to consult with the Program Committee and the LSA Executive Office (melissa.king@lawandsociety.org) in advance of submitting their proposal.

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 3d

This is such a clever idea on taking kids to museums/galleries
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Nadia from London has an idea that sounds such fun you'll be booking a day out asap.
"I've always loved museums," she says,
"but they can be overwhelming for children. For decades now, I've done something called 'playing postcards'
We do
the museum backwards, visiting the gift shop first. Each child gets to choose three postcards. Then they take it in turns to find that particular artwork in the museum and give us a little information about the piece from the details on the postcard, or from any gallery plaque. At the end of this treasure-hunt-style activity, we vote for our favourite in the cafe."

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Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 4d

I know not everyone is who they thought they would be under a fascist, authoritarian regime. That's okay. But it's time to do more than react and post about it. It's time to get organized—including mapping or creating lines of support and defense in your community.

Mapping Community Defense and Care in Our Neighborhoods

This worksheet can help us prepare for Trump's military interventions at the neighborhood level.

organizingmythoughts.org

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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 4d

I'm so proud of everyone from my old neighborhood of Rogers Park in Chicago. I see what you have been and are doing. I am so proud of how organized the community is and how much more so everyone is becoming. It is inspiring. Just one example... And this is something EVERYONE can do. Everyone.

Informational flyer about Rogers Park Whistle Protocols, explaining how to use whistles to alert neighbors of emergencies, with color-coded alerts, steps for use, and encouragement to form a crowd and stay loud for safety.

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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 25d

How do you balance love, friendship, and radical organizing? @deanspade.bsky.social's new book shows leftists how to build ethical, supportive relationships without losing sight of the struggle.

Read the conversation with @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social:

inthesetimes.com/article/love...

An illustration shows diverse, vibrant scenes divided by torn edges. Highlights include friendships, comforting embrace, and activism with a megaphone. Tonal contrast reflects emotional depth.

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Dean Spade @deanspade.bsky.social · 8d

Can we appreciate that we’re all learning about how to say no, and how to hear others say no, and be as generous as possible in these difficult moments?

Listen to the whole episode wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube.

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Dean Spade @deanspade.bsky.social · 8d

Often times, when we’re having heightened feelings in a group or relationship, on some level it feels like life-or-death, even if we logically know its just the dishes or the money or the jealousy or the disagreement in the meeting.

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Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 4d

Why am I voting for Catherine? She’s an ambassador for an Ireland that would have brought me home sooner.

Her election feels like the beginning of a broader movement to build a better Ireland, one worth fighting for, worth canvassing for. It’s a vision that feels like home.

Katie Ryan
Kilrush

Photo of Catherine Connolly with reader’s letter - I’m not a very political person.

That’s a strange thing to admit as someone with two degrees in politics, but whatever enthusiasm I had for political engagement was quickly snuffed out as I graduated into an Ireland of austerity and dwindling opportunities.

I knew change was needed and I was excited to vote for it, but time and again I was shown that change wasn’t possible. I voted to elect Labour — I got Fine Gael. I voted to elect the Greens — I got Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. If I just stayed home, I still got Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

Time after time, Ireland’s youth begged for changes that would give us some hope for the future, but every time we were told that our lives mattered less than rising house prices. It was obvious there was no future for me in Ireland, so I took the same path as so many others before me and sought a better life in Australia.

I had no intention of coming back. Ireland had turned her back on me long before I turned my back on her. Covid forced me back home and I wasn’t happy about it. I met someone when I returned and we’ve done our best to build a life here, but Melbourne has never stopped calling to me.

On September 22, my partner happened to be watching Catherine Connolly’s campaign launch and sitting beside him I felt something stir that I thought was long gone — hope.

Catherine Connolly and the people she shared that stage with shared a vision for Ireland’s future that had a place for me in it. I heard Holly Cairns express that the presidency can be a role that highlights who we want to be, not just accepting the shortcomings of who we are right now. I heard Mary Lou McDonald speak of an Ireland where the aspirations and wellbeing of the people come first. I heard Paul Murphy reassure us that there is indeed hope that the 100-year rule of Fine Fáil and Fine Gael can be ended.

Finally, when Catherine herself spoke, I saw why each of these leaders who took the stage had put t…

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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 5d

New from me on @autonomynews.co: The popular abortion pill resource Plan C relaunched this week with a new design that better displays the many, many options for medication abortion in all 50 states

Autonomy News @autonomynews.co · 5d

The online abortion pill guide @plancpills.bsky.social has been redesigned to make it even easier to learn where to get pills, including at no cost. The redesign comes as state officials have threatened investigations and potential lawsuits against the organization.

An Autonomy News exclusive:

Exclusive: Plan C Doubles Down on Abortion Pill Info Amid Political Attacks

The online abortion pill guide has been redesigned to make it even easier to learn where to get pills, including at no cost.

www.autonomynews.co

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Marita Hennessy @maritahennessy.bsky.social · 26d

"ongoing need to examine femtech’s role in shaping global dynamics of reproductive, labor, & environmental justice, in addition to neoliberal approaches to healthcare more broadly"

Danica Facca, Jodi Hall, Gail Teachman, Joanna Redden, Lorie Donelle

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

#FemTech

Femtech in context: A critical conceptual (re)view - Danica Facca, Jodi Hall, Gail Teachman, Joanna Redden, Lorie Donelle, 2025

Emerging as a commercial category in 2016, ‘femtech’ has been publicly celebrated as a category of consumer-based digital health technologies designed to suppor...

journals.sagepub.com

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Marita Hennessy @maritahennessy.bsky.social · 7d

My fight for equality that shattered Ireland’s academic glass ceiling | Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/educ...

Micheline Sheehy Skeffington: My equality fight that shattered the academic glass ceiling

It is 10 years since I won a landmark gender discrimination case. Was it all worth it?

www.irishtimes.com

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Pregnancy Loss Research Group @pregnancylossie.bsky.social · 5d

Tonight in City Hall, Cork we published "Words at Work"

Each text in the book is a direct quotation from a person with experience of pregnancy loss who participated in the PLACES Project
www.ucc.ie/en/pregnancy...

@keelinodonoghue.bsky.social @maritahennessy.bsky.social #PLRG_WordsAtWork

Abstract image of two black pencil-drawn circles on white background with black text Words at Work: Experiences of pregnancy loss in the workplace {up to 23 weeks}

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Ruth Fletcher @ruthfletcher.bsky.social · 5d

Still waiting

BBC Newsnight @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social · Jan 14

"I've been waiting for over 26 years now for my compensation."

The oldest victim of the Post Office Horizon scandal, 92-year-old Betty Brown, says she is 'disgusted' that sub-postmasters have not received full compensation yet.

#Newsnight

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Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 5d

I chickened out of my long-time working title:

Trains and Borders and Orangemen, Oh My!

But the first sight of a new publication in the wild still feels nice. Thanks to @conormccormick.bsky.social, David Capper and Norma Dawson for assembling this collection:

www.cambridge.org/core/books/l...

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Flora Renz @florarenz.bsky.social · 6d

Peter Dunne, Emily Grabham and I have edited a special section of feminists@law on the Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland. You can find our editorial about this below. The special section has some brilliant critical and feminist takes on the decision journals.kent.ac.uk/index.php/fe...

How can critical and feminist scholars respond to the decision in 'For Women Scotland'? | feminists@law

journals.kent.ac.uk

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Workshops4Gaza @workshops4gaza.bsky.social · 8d

Boycott TEVA, and come to our workshop, "Medical BDS: On Boycotting Israeli Pharmaceuticals" online on October 23rd to learn how.

www.workshops4gaza.com/calendar/med...

flyer for Medical BDS: A Workshop on Boycotting Israeli Pharmaceuticals, by Boycott TEVA USA
Thursday, October 23
7:30-9:30 PM EST on zoom
Workshops for Gaza X Healthcare Workers for Palestine

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