Abortion - My Choice

  On the 4^th of February the BBC aired an episode of Panorama on the topic of abortion.  As usually is the case with abortion, it seemed more people on the program were against rather than for.  Abortion is certainly not a rather nice subject to talk about and I’m sure there are many people who have issues against it, but it is fundamental that we women have that choice. 

  I’m starting to get a bit tired having to explain to people why we need abortion, why we should have the right to an abortion and why the Government should not meddle with the abortion time limit.  Most of us will know someone who has had an abortion, as by the time women are 45 almost one in three women in the UK will have had one.  

  I believe pro-life equals anti-woman, which is my opinion.  Many pro-life groups go on and on about protecting the life of an unborn child.  But what about the life of a woman, we’re not just here to incubate babies you know. 

  Imagine being forced to have a baby with a rapist.  Imagine being forced to have a baby with a blood-relative.  Imagine being forced to have a baby with an abusive man.  Imagine being drugged and forced to have a baby with an unknown man.  Imagine being forced to have a baby, even though you had safe sex. 

  Imagine all of that happening to; a child, a teenager, a mentally or physically challenged person, an alcoholic, a drug addict, a regular woman who just doesn’t feel like having a baby and then imagine that baby’s childhood.  Not all of abortions begin with unsafe sex.  Abortion does not last for a lifetime, but a life does. 

  People also say the time limit of 24 weeks should be lowered, as babies can survive outside of the womb at this stage.  In actual fact there is no new medical evidence to suggest such a cut would be a good idea.  Maria Miller is Minister for Women and describes herself as “a very modern feminist” yet she has stated she thinks the abortion limit should be reduced to 20 weeks, and don’t even get me started on what Nadine Dorries has said. 

  Women deserve the right to have autonomy over their own bodies, and we are entitled to make the decision to end or continue a pregnancy if that is what we want; it should not concern anyone else.  If the abortion time limit is reduced, this does not mean fewer abortions will be carried out. It will only mean that women who rely on the NHS will be forced to make a difficult decision with very little time to make it. 

  If the Government want to reduce abortions, they need to concentrate on education first and foremost.  People need better access to contraception, and I believe it should be made available at schools.  Schools also need to teach children not just about the facts of life, but about relationships, safe-sex, saying no and rape.  Perhaps that would help lower the percentage of rape cases and the vast number of teenage pregnancies, both reducing the amount of abortions.  Women have the right not to have a baby; it is our body, our womb and our choice.  Stop meddling.