Wednesday 7th January, 2009
Our right to decide on abortion
Issue #1396 [Feb 15th 2008]
On 6th February Ann Widdecombe spoke in London as part of a “passion for life” speaking tour, reopening the debate about what the time limit for abortion should be.
Right now, women in Britain can request an abortion any time during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy as long as it is approved by two doctors. A minority of women also get an abortion after this time due to very extreme circumstances such as risk to the mother’s life, accounting for less than 1% of the total abortions carried out.
The human fertilisation and embryology bill soon to go through parliament is being used by anti-abortion campaigners in an attempt to lower the time limit to 20 or even 13 weeks. They also seek to introduce more measures such as a “cooling-off period” of two weeks after a woman asks for an abortion. Pro-choice MPs are arguing to increase the availability of abortions, cutting restrictions (such as the need for two doctor’s signatures) and giving nurses qualifications to carry out the simpler and less-traumatising early abortions.
Studies in countries where abortion is outlawed (reported in New Scientist in October 2007) have shown no difference in the number of abortions carried out. Instead, the richest women from those countries can always hop on a plane and go somewhere where it is allowed. However, the majority of women are driven to get backstreet abortions or attempt the procedure themselves. This was the case in Britain before the 1967 abortion act; prior to this around 100,000 illegal abortions were carried out per year and an estimated 35,000 of them resulted in hospitalization. Some women even died as a result of their injuries.
Unsurprisingly, people going in to Widdecombe’s meeting were met by hundreds of angry protestors. It is fundamentally about the rights of women to make their own decisions. If someone doesn’t want to have an abortion for religious or moral reasons that’s fine, but why should they try to force their views on everyone else? Anti-abortionists have argued that as a foetus can survive outside a woman’s body after a certain point it should be given some of the same rights as an adult. Of course, adults have the right not to be murdered but no adult has the right to use a woman’s body against that woman’s will in order to sustain their own life. If someone needed a kidney transplant, for example, a relative could voluntarily donate a kidney but no one is arguing that they should be forced to by law.
There are a couple of other arguments against the anti-abortion lobby. Firstly, if a foetus becomes a person at a certain point during pregnancy, laws intended to prevent some abortions such as the “cooling-off period” will merely introduce more bureaucracy making it more likely that an abortion will occur after this point. Women do not take the decision to have an abortion lightly; a woman going to the clinic and asking for one will have already spent hours deliberating, so it seems unlikely that they will change their mind in a further two weeks. It just makes the abortion that little bit later.
Secondly, judging by the reactions of people at Widdecombe’s meeting it is a joke that they refer to themselves as pro-life. I got called a “Nazi”; they even shouted “you should have been aborted” at one pro-choice campaigner! The tactics used by some of these groups show no respect for the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in society, including the teenage girls and victims of rape that often feel that they need an abortion. Often they are also the same people that argue against contraception, despite the fact that decent sex education and availability of contraception reduces the number of abortions carried out as well as protecting against deadly diseases.
Students are well placed to fight against anti-abortion amendments. We not only have the youth and enthusiasm needed but will be uniquely affected if the time limits are reduced. We are the least able, both financially and in terms of commitments to education and careers, to have children and the most able to bring rational arguments based on scientific fact to the argument. For more information, head to: www.abortionrights.org.uk
Right now, women in Britain can request an abortion any time during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy as long as it is approved by two doctors. A minority of women also get an abortion after this time due to very extreme circumstances such as risk to the mother’s life, accounting for less than 1% of the total abortions carried out.
The human fertilisation and embryology bill soon to go through parliament is being used by anti-abortion campaigners in an attempt to lower the time limit to 20 or even 13 weeks. They also seek to introduce more measures such as a “cooling-off period” of two weeks after a woman asks for an abortion. Pro-choice MPs are arguing to increase the availability of abortions, cutting restrictions (such as the need for two doctor’s signatures) and giving nurses qualifications to carry out the simpler and less-traumatising early abortions.
Studies in countries where abortion is outlawed (reported in New Scientist in October 2007) have shown no difference in the number of abortions carried out. Instead, the richest women from those countries can always hop on a plane and go somewhere where it is allowed. However, the majority of women are driven to get backstreet abortions or attempt the procedure themselves. This was the case in Britain before the 1967 abortion act; prior to this around 100,000 illegal abortions were carried out per year and an estimated 35,000 of them resulted in hospitalization. Some women even died as a result of their injuries.
Unsurprisingly, people going in to Widdecombe’s meeting were met by hundreds of angry protestors. It is fundamentally about the rights of women to make their own decisions. If someone doesn’t want to have an abortion for religious or moral reasons that’s fine, but why should they try to force their views on everyone else? Anti-abortionists have argued that as a foetus can survive outside a woman’s body after a certain point it should be given some of the same rights as an adult. Of course, adults have the right not to be murdered but no adult has the right to use a woman’s body against that woman’s will in order to sustain their own life. If someone needed a kidney transplant, for example, a relative could voluntarily donate a kidney but no one is arguing that they should be forced to by law.
There are a couple of other arguments against the anti-abortion lobby. Firstly, if a foetus becomes a person at a certain point during pregnancy, laws intended to prevent some abortions such as the “cooling-off period” will merely introduce more bureaucracy making it more likely that an abortion will occur after this point. Women do not take the decision to have an abortion lightly; a woman going to the clinic and asking for one will have already spent hours deliberating, so it seems unlikely that they will change their mind in a further two weeks. It just makes the abortion that little bit later.
Secondly, judging by the reactions of people at Widdecombe’s meeting it is a joke that they refer to themselves as pro-life. I got called a “Nazi”; they even shouted “you should have been aborted” at one pro-choice campaigner! The tactics used by some of these groups show no respect for the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in society, including the teenage girls and victims of rape that often feel that they need an abortion. Often they are also the same people that argue against contraception, despite the fact that decent sex education and availability of contraception reduces the number of abortions carried out as well as protecting against deadly diseases.
Students are well placed to fight against anti-abortion amendments. We not only have the youth and enthusiasm needed but will be uniquely affected if the time limits are reduced. We are the least able, both financially and in terms of commitments to education and careers, to have children and the most able to bring rational arguments based on scientific fact to the argument. For more information, head to: www.abortionrights.org.uk
Link to this article:
If you were logged in, then you would be able to comment.