Reproductive Rights and Who it Affects
I’ve not talked about this much but feel that I should really make comment.
My work is around the reduction of violence to women, so there is a most definite connection.
Abortion is difficult to get, that’s a fact. In many countries it is impossible, and in the countries where it is possible, women have to jump through hoops to get it. All this done at a time of great stress and upset.
I have met many women who have opted for abortion, not one of them was using it as a form of contraception. I have met several couples who have, together, opted for abortion. None of them used it as a form of contraception either.
I am astounded the right to abortion is on the legislation books. I cannot understand why a medical procedure performed on a private individual needs to be legislated and controlled.
Let’s get some perspective on how this affects EVERYONE who is at reproductive age.
When you ban abortion, you do not ban abortion. What you are doing is banning safe abortion. Which basically means you are increasing the likelihood of dangerous practices and therefore deaths.
If you are vehemently anti abortion and believe it should be outlawed completely, let me give you some examples of why that is NOT a good idea:
- A “one-size-fits-all” piece of legislation means that the legislation fits nobody. Every person is an individual with their own rights and thoughts, resilience and physical capabilities.
- If you are shouting for the rights of the unborn child, then you must shout for the rights of the born child. I will listen to your anti abortion argument when you also come to me with your argument for safe spaces for children, excellent education regardless of their socio-economic group, the right to food without having their parent visit a foodbank, and their right to their own physical autonomy where anyone breaching that who sexually and physically abuse them is dealt with appropriately and completely. When I see your placards for those things, then come to me with your Rights for the Unborn placards.
- In the UK, when a rape victim reports her crime to the police, she is offered and advised to take a “morning after pill”. This is the cute name that describes medicine that prevents the implanting of a fertilised egg into the wall of the uterus, and thus prevents the pregnancy. This is not 100% guaranteed. It is however, better than waiting in horror for a missed period and then having to go through a whole process of seeking an abortion.
- Some people cannot consent to sex – children, for example. Children are frequently raped and impregnated. If you think it’s ok for a child to go through the horror of a pregnancy as a result of a rape, to protect a “child” that is basically a cluster of cells, then you need help.
- Ectopic pregnancies kill mothers and the embryo – so that’s a lose/lose.
- Couples across the United States (and most likely, therefore, this is also happening forever in countries where abortion is already illegal) are having to change their family planning. Men are opting for vasectomies because they cannot risk their partner having an ectopic pregnancy. Why? Because this will leave them widowed and any children they already have orphaned.
- If you are Pro-Life, you are kidding yourself. Women will die. That is not Pro-Life. It is Pro-Control.
- A simple “I do not want to be a parent” is enough. People make their own life choices all the time. Why should this one be any different?
If you are going to take control of the goings on in a woman’s uterus, then please take some control of the goings on in a man’s testicles – fair and equal, don’t you think?
When a woman is forced to go through a pregnancy, this is violence to that woman. This is all about controlling women. As an activist and feminist I am very much against violence against anyone, especially people who are refused their rights by a system that gives not one toss about the resulting baby.