It’s OK to hate abortion but it’s not OK to take a choice away from someone simply because you don’t like it

Stefanie Preissner

Women protest against the six-week abortion ban at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021. Photo: Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP

September 26 2021 02:30 AM

The Supreme Court of Mexico recently ruled that it is unconstitutional to punish abortion as a crime. It’s a landmark ruling that might pave the way for Mexico to become the largest South American country to legalise abortion (currently, in Mexico, only Mexico City, and three Mexican states allow abortion). It’s phenomenal when you consider that only a few miles away across the US border, the state of Texas has passed legislation prohibiting abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. When are people going to stop trying to police women’s bodies?

For those of you who might not know, pregnancy is measured from a woman’s last menstrual period. The average cycle lasts 28 days, but a ‘normal’ cycle can be anything from 21 days to 40 days. The first sign of pregnancy is a missed period. Doctors recommend not taking a pregnancy test until you’ve missed a period because that’s when a test is most reliable. So, if a woman has a 28-day cycle and gets a positive test, she is already four weeks pregnant.

When we extrapolate that out, a woman with a 40-day cycle may be five weeks and five days pregnant when she misses a period. If she’s not trying to conceive, or if her periods are irregular, it could be long after that before the pregnancy is confirmed. A woman isn’t typically seen by a doctor until after eight weeks of pregnancy, when a foetal sac can be seen in the womb. Texan legislators are well aware of this fact. For many women, by the time they find out they’re pregnant, it’s going to be already too late to choose an abortion.

Abortion laws aren’t about protecting anyone, born or unborn. Abortion laws are about manipulation and control. They are used globally to prevent women from exercising autonomy, and to keep the power structures within the status quo. It’s not just in Texas or Mexico, either. In Ireland, if a woman is more than 12 weeks pregnant, she can’t elect to terminate her pregnancy.

It annoys me when the members of the pro-life lobby pick and choose which parts of the Constitution, or indeed, the Bible, they want to stand by. If they’re so concerned about the rights of the unborn, then I presume they’re equally concerned about the rights that same child would have if they were to be born. If a woman finds out at a 20-week scan that their child will be born with a life-limiting illness, for example, would pro-lifers be advocating for that child’s rights to supports and assistance? Pro-lifers must, by definition, also be strong healthcare or even disability-rights activists?

And if a woman is pregnant as a result of assault in an abusive relationship, those same people must be concerned and protesting about domestic violence and women’s rights to safety and the importance of consent, surely?

A woman’s need for an abortion is often centred around health risks, financial insecurity, disability supports or even sexual assault. There are endless valid reasons why a woman might not want to continue a pregnancy. Maybe she’s had terrible pregnancies and traumatic births and can’t tolerate to repeat it. Maybe she’s suffered horrendously from postnatal depression and feels she’s at risk. Maybe she’s already raised a family and feels another addition would negatively impact them. Or maybe she is one of the many women who have known all their lives that having children was not for them. Women should be allowed to decide whether they want to endure nine months of foetal growth, then shoulder the responsibility and commitment that comes with parenting.

If people are so concerned about protecting lives, why do they not get behind the myriad movements out there that seek to raise support and awareness for those who need help? You don’t have to agree with abortion. You can hate it, it can make you sad and angry. You have a right to any opinion. If you have an issue with abortion, calling for proper sex education and access to free or affordable birth control may be more effective, because those things have been shown to reduce the rates of unplanned pregnancies.

It’s OK to hate abortion but it is not OK to shame or disrespect someone for choosing to have one. You can’t take a choice away from someone simply because you don’t like it. Your emotions are not more important than a woman’s bodily autonomy.