Phoebe Davis

West Midlands attacks have left Sikh women fearing for their safety | The Observer

My dispatch from a (very) cold Walsall where the community took to the streets following a spate of racially aggravated attacks on women.

A powerful phrase to keep in mind from Shaheen Akhtar (pictured): "They looked at my scarf and not the soul beneath it"

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Clinical negligence costs NHS almost the same as it spend... Maternal death rate has risen 42% in a decade, while ombudsman reports a culture of cover-ups

Also in the paper this weekend:

@rachelsylvester.bsky.social on how to fix the fact that the NHS is spending almost as much on clinical negligence claims related to maternity care as it does on maternity care itself

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Top hospitals turn away pregnant women too scared to use ... Low care ratings at maternity wards across the country have put immense strain on a small number of units

NEW: At least five of England’s top-rated maternity units have been forced to turn pregnant women away because of “significant and unanticipated increases in demand", despite birth rates falling across the country.

@theobserveruk.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Top hospitals turn away pregnant women too scared to use ... Low care ratings at maternity wards across the country have put immense strain on a small number of units

'At least five of England’s top-rated maternity units have been forced to turn pregnant women away because of “significant and unanticipated increases in demand”, despite birth rates falling across the country."' observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Top hospitals turn away pregnant women too scared to use ... Low care ratings at maternity wards across the country have put immense strain on a small number of units

Also @phoebeivy.bsky.social reveals how top-rated hospitals are being forced to turn away pregnant women fleeing failing maternity units observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

It’s shocking that the NHS spends almost as much on clinical negligence claims related to maternity care as it does on maternity care itself - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social on the crisis in maternity services and how to fix it observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Alarm over ‘substitutes’ sold on black market as Mounjaro... Online sellers have started promoting weight-loss treatments that are yet to receive clinical approval

Alarm over ‘substitutes’ sold on black market as Mounjaro price bloats

Online sellers have started promoting weight-loss treatments that are yet to receive clinical approval.

@phoebeivy.bsky.social

Thank you Louise!

US Christian conservative groups escalate support for UK ... Network of well-funded bodies backs cases in UK after JD Vance’s challenge on buffer zones outside abortion clinics

JD Vance's attack on buffer zones outside abortion clinics is just a small part of a huge plan to undermine the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people in the UK.

Amnesty UK research has exposed a powerful and growing anti-rights movement in the UK.

observer.co.uk/news/interna...

Thank you Naomi! This means a lot (and obviously bias but agree on the love for a Sunday morning delivery of @theobserveruk.bsky.social )

‘I can finally get on with rebuilding my life’: MPs vote ... Ending a pregnancy will no longer carry the threat of prosecution after first major law change in a generation

‘I can finally get on with rebuilding my life’: MPs vote to decriminalise abortion

Ending a pregnancy will no longer carry the threat of prosecution after first major law change in a generation.

bit.ly/40avxnL

@phoebeivy.bsky.social

Catch up on recent happening in femtech and policing in the UK: @phoebeivy.bsky.social of @theobserveruk.bsky.social recently investigated new national guidance advising police forces to look at internet searches and menstrual tracking apps after pregnancy loss.

❗ bsky.app/profile/phoe...

Officers are advised to search for “drugs that can terminate pregnancy”, and access a woman’s digital devices to assess her “knowledge and intention” of ending a pregnancy in new NPCC guidance.

It's more important than ever that we reform abortion law.

Our statement 👇

Police could search homes and phones after pregnancy loss | The Observer New national guidance suggests officers look for menstrual tracking apps or abortion drugs

This guidance is harrowing. Telling police to use menstrual tracking apps to investigate women for illegal abortion reads like something you get out of Texas, not the UK. There's only one way to protect women - #SupportNC1 to change abortion law.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Prosecuted, shamed and traumatised for mistake of taking abortion pills too late | The Observer In 2020, Nicola Packer had an abortion - then was arrested and put on trial. Now, found not guilty, she hopes she will be the last woman in history prosecuted under England’s archaic law

In 2020, Nicola Packer had an abortion - then was arrested and put on trial.

Now, found not guilty, she hopes she will be the last woman in history prosecuted under England’s archaic law.

Read the full report from @phoebeivy.bsky.social here:

Leading abortion providers, medical professionals and legal experts (who were not consulted in producing the guidance) have described it to me as “shocking”, “draconian” and “dystopian”, and are calling for it to be reviewed.

library.college.police.uk/docs/NPCC/Pr...

Prosecuted, shamed and traumatised for mistake of taking abortion pills too late | The Observer In 2020, Nicola Packer had an abortion - then was arrested and put on trial. Now, found not guilty, she hopes she will be the last woman in history prosecuted under England’s archaic law

Background: while trying to find out why women like Nicola Packer (linked) are being investigated for illegal abortions in the UK, I was sent the updated National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) guidance on “child death investigation”

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Police could search homes and phones after pregnancy loss | The Observer New national guidance suggests officers look for menstrual tracking apps or abortion drugs

NEW: UK police guidance suggests officers search homes for abortion drugs and check phones for menstrual tracking apps after unexpected pregnancy loss

@theobserveruk.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

‘She was the light that lifted so many survivors’: tributes pour in for Virginia Giuffre Giuffre’s suicide has revealed the cost of justice for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims

Virginia Giuffre’s death is going to another touchstone for the Maga right, I’m sad to say. Early details in this piece with @phoebeivy.bsky.social and in the paper too - go and buy one!

observer.co.uk/news/interna...

First piece for The Observer is on a man I have spent far too much of the last month thinking about: Tristan Tate. You thought Andrew was bad? Meet his little brother.

Also a good time to say I am now a Reporter for The Observer. My DMs open if you want to get in touch ✍🏻

We could be heroes... on women writing war Thoughts on women war reporters

When I sat down to write this, I thought I was going to write about Virginia Cowles & Martha Gellhorn, about women war reporters and having a history of female journalists.

But it turns out I needed to write about appeasement, fascism, Trump & Putin, and Ukraine.

open.substack.com/pub/sianushk...

Former MP offers to ‘shape policy’ for clients while accessing parliament

Exclusive: Ex-MP offers to "shape policy" for clients while using his special pass to access parliament

Laurence Robertson has attended several events in the months since losing his seat, meeting senior politicians in the process.

👇

www.tortoisemedia.com/2025/03/28/f...

@phoebeivy.bsky.social answered the question “what’s up with eggs?” In todays @tortoisemedia.bsky.social sensemaker (chart by me)

Our hard-won rights are being erased one letter at a time | Eva Wiseman The US continues to roll back trans, gay and abortion rights, and the UK is not immune to any of it

A column in which I ask um, should we all be learning how to perform abortions ? www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Male Supremacy Is the Backbone of Authoritarian Movements An excerpt from Katherine Stewart's Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy

If you have also woken up mortified and disgusted, I would highly (highly) recommend this excellent book from @katherinestewart.bsky.social. It's the clearest reporting I have read on how in the hell we got here (extract below).

jill.substack.com/p/male-supre...

Can confirm that UK-based far right and conspiracy theorist/anti-vaxx Telegram networks are absolutely pumped about what Trump and Vance did to Zelensky in the Oval Office

They are celebrating it as public "humiliation"

Cutest protest award goes to No Births Behind Bars and Level Up today at the MoJ. Follows shocking reports that multiple pregnant prisoners were forced to wear handcuffs during labour.

Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared. ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.

NEW: Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared.

ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.

My AI girlfriend: a cure for loneliness The Slow Newscast · Episode

In honour of Valentine's Day, here's my podcast about AI "companionship" chatbots. As millions of users sign up to AI relationships, I asked: who are they really handing their hearts – and their data – to?
w/ @mattrussell3.bsky.social for @tortoisemedia.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/3A0G...

I spent my afternoon going over as many British newspapers published in the last three days that I could access to document just how Trumps hatred of trans people has embolded people in the media. Since Friday, I found nine articles about trans people across three papers: