Monday 12th January 2026
Following the announcement that Diane Munday, abortion rights campaigner and cofounder of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), has passed away, BPAS Chief Executive Heidi Stewart said:
“Diane was instrumental in the creation of BPAS at a time when access to safe, legal abortion in Britain was far from guaranteed. She was part of a generation of women who not only changed the law, but then worked tirelessly to ensure that women could actually access the care those legal changes made possible. BPAS exists because of that early vision and determination.”
“Diane was also cleareyed about the limits of the progress made in 1967. When Parliament voted to pass the bill that would become the Abortion Act, campaigners and politicians gathered to celebrate. Diane famously said she would only drink half a glass of champagne – because the job was only half done. She understood that abortion could never be fully secured while it remained in the criminal law, and she spent the rest of her life arguing that it should be treated like any other healthcare procedure.”
“Last year, MPs took an important step forward by voting to remove women from the criminal law in relation to abortion. Diane lived to see that progress, but she would also have been the first to remind us that this was not the end of the journey. At BPAS, we will continue the work she dedicated her life to, and when abortion is finally fully decriminalised, we will raise a full glass of champagne in Diane’s honour.”
“Our thoughts are with Diane’s family, friends, and all those whose lives were changed by her courage, compassion, and lifelong commitment to reproductive freedom.”
A true pioneer of change, Diane Munday was a central figure in the Abortion Law Reform Association (ALRA), whose campaigning made the 1967 Abortion Act possible. She went on to cofound the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS, helping to build a charity that would provide compassionate abortion care to hundreds of thousands of women.
Throughout her life, Diane defended abortion rights publicly and fearlessly – in the media, with policymakers, and within wider civil society – often during periods of intense opposition and stigma. She continued to campaign for abortion law reform, bodily autonomy, and human rights until her final days, leaving an enduring legacy that will continue to shape BPAS and the wider movement for reproductive justice for generations to come.