Abortion is a medical procedure to end a pregnancy also sometimes known as termination of pregnancy.
It can be done by taking medicine or having a surgical procedure (asportation of the foetus from the uterus).
Choice is usually made by the expectant mother.
Abortion is not only a medical practice, but during the years it has became a social issue that splits the public opinion in two: those who are pro-choice, thinking that women have the right to choose for their bodies and conclude pregnancy and those who are pro-life, thinking that babies lives must be protected no matter what.
Scientifically speaking: the heart starts beating at 3 weeks, but life outside the uterus is impossible before the 7th month. That’s why many countries have decided to grant women the possibility to interrupt pregnancy 3 months after conception.
Many legislations permit women to abort after term if women are found in life threatening situations or the foetus is severely malformed.
Nevertheless, many are the stories of women that died because in their countries abortion is illegal, as Izabela Sajbor, a 30 years old polish woman who died from sepsi because the doctors could not remove the fetus of 22 weeks who was dead; or the case of Andrea Prudente who was rushed from Malta to Palma de Majorca to complete the spontaneous abortion and avoid death.
In this historically challenging time, it’s important to recognise women’s right to advocate for themselves, without imposing onto them our concept of morality.
And be conscious that the number of abortions is proportional to the absence of the welfare state: in fact there is not access to a sexual education where contraceptives are way too expensive, where women are sexually abused and where there are not antenatal and postnatal care. And still abortions are practiced.
We have to understand that children are expensive because they require time, money and energy that those who choose to abort, do not always have.
So, instead of neglecting this right we have to build a system which gives women the support for their decision regarding their situation.
As we talk about abortion, it’s important to remember the denatality rate.
It’s not by chance, that in this historical period, where the countries of the old world are facing denatality, we are discussing women’s body freedom.
Datas are bluntly showing us that the People of Color (POC) babies are much more than the whites.
And in fact, if we look closely at the associations who promoted the abrogation of Roe vs Wade, supremacist organisations, who fight against ethical replacement, are present.
To conclude, I cannot forget to highlight the fact that poor women are the ones who are going to suffer the most.
We are not making abortion illegal, we are forcing poor women to go back to unsafe practice who will lead them to death and marking once again the distinction between social classes: rich women will travel to the closest state to abort, poor women will die from unsafe abortions.
References:
- Sources: https://www.statista.com/statistics/226292/us-fertility-rates-by-race-and-ethnicity/
- https://metropolitanmagazine.it/aborto-nel-lazio-il-74-dei-medici-sono-obiettori/
Rebecca is a writer for The Feminist Health Blog and a medical student.
She is a antiracist feminist and an activist. In her free time, She likes boxing.
She believes in the importance of empowering women, and that knowledge is a
strong weapon against oppression.
The Feminist Health CIC 