The "My Choice" Mum
With Ireland fighting for the right for women to have an abortion, it had got me thinking about my views and the right to my own body.
I am pro-choice, I have not had an abortion, I know that it’s not for me but I also know that I have no right to make this choice for others. It is their body, their life, their choice.
My daughter is currently learning at nursery about how she is in control of her body and she has the right to decided yes or no with anything as simple as a hug. I can’t imagine removing her rights, to all of a sudden tell her that she may not necessarily have her life the way she wants it.
Abortion is not for everyone but for some they will really feel like they don’t have a choice. It can be as simple as they were too young for the responsibility of a baby, maybe the lady in question would have to do it alone or sadly the baby was a result of rape. If abortion was not available imagine what life could be like for the child and the adult, it may be great but then again it could be full of spite, regret and sadness.
I would say an unmarried woman falling pregnant has only become the normal in the last 20 -30 years.
In 1967 abortion was legalised in the UK even then it was only under certain conditions
To save the woman's life
To prevent grave permanent injury to the woman's physical or mental health
Under 24 weeks to avoid injury to the physical or mental health of the woman
Under 24 weeks to avoid injury to the physical or mental health of the existing child(ren)
If the child was likely to be severely physically or mentally handicapped
It was not until 1990 that we were given the right to end a pregnancy without one of these reasons though some doctors were happy to “bend the rules”.
In 2012, Savita Halappanavar died after getting sepsis after complications in a miscarriage at 17 weeks, in Ireland they refused to perform a D and C due to the foetus still having a heartbeat. In the end both lives were lost. After this event, Ireland and women of the world were in uproar. A lady had lost her life, her future due to a very outdated law.
An argument that is brought up a lot is that with the advances in medical techniques and equipment, it means that babies born before the abortion cut off of 24 weeks have a higher survival rate than ever before. This makes the idea of abortion harder to swallow but the truth is sometimes the baby is not wanted for whatever reason.
A baby changes things, big time! The cost of a child is something we never imagined until we have one. They can be (not always) a responsibility that some just can’t take on at that moment in time but it rarely is something that is not thought about. The majority of abortions happen before 12 weeks, even more before 8 weeks with many stating that the continuation with the pregnancy will result in a break down in mental health. This is exactly it, forcing a women to have a child that they don’t want/can’t have, will affect their mental health preventing them from becoming the parent they want to be thus affecting the child’s mental health.
I have friends who have had them and it just wasn’t the “right” time and they think about that child all the time. Abortion is not the easy option; in fact it’s a hard choice.
A brave choice.
You are taking control of your life, something not everyone has the courage to do.
Abortion may not be for you but it’s a choice we deserve to have as women. We have the right to make the choices that affect our life and a child changes everything.
This vote in Ireland is a step closer to women’s rights.
Our Body
Our life
Our Choice
Our Uterus
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