A Woman’s Right to Choose
Louise Whittle
On the 21st June 2006 Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor had a meeting with
health ministers calling for lowering the 24-week abortion limit at Department
of Health. Because of the technological advances it means that the abortion
laws are outdated.
The DoH have stated that the "government has no plans to change the law
over abortion".
It does cause extreme concern that there is a constant threat of chipping away
of the 1967 Act. In the States there has been a vote to ban abortion in South
Dakota (and other states have followed suit) and Bush has packed his mates in
the Supreme Court so Roe v Wade is hanging by a thread.
In Britain the question of abortion rights has been on the left's back burner
for some time. There is certainly no large-scale campaigning and there is
little, if any, debate on the issue.
Globally there is a huge problem of a lack of access to safe abortion and a
quarter of the world's women live in countries where abortion is criminalised
more or less completely, often only allowing abortion if the life of the woman
is at risk. This contrasts with approximately 80,000 deaths each year that are
the result of women being forced to have unsafe abortions. This means that
about every six minutes a woman dies from an illegal termination. The
'pro-life' campaigners continue to have a lot of deaths to answer for.
The World Health Organisation estimates that 20 million of the 46 million
pregnancies that are terminated every year are carried out under unsafe
conditions or in an adverse social or legal climate.
A front page headline in January 2006 of the normally liberal The Observer
read: "Women demand tougher laws to curb abortions". The paper was commenting
on the results of a Mori survey, which found that 47% of women believe that
the time limit for abortion should be cut from the present 24 weeks. The
Observer also reported that Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor thought that there
had been a "moral awakening" over the past few years over the issue.
In many countries abortion is treated for all intents and purposes as a
criminal offence in virtually all circumstances. In Europe this includes the
Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Malta and Portugal. Poland has allowed
a similar situation to arise. Generally legal terminations only take place in
the most extreme circumstances. This leads to a lot of women being forced to
travel to other countries such as Spain and Britain to obtain abortions.
It is estimated that 20,000 illegal abortions are performed in Portugal each
year. As a result of complications during such operations 5,000 woman have to
attend hospital each year and about 100 women have died unnecessarily during
the last 20 years. A woman in Portugal is up to 150 times more likely to die
from an abortion than a woman living in the Netherlands. In Kenya, 30%-50% of
maternal deaths are due to unsafe abortions.
In autumn 2000, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (European
Network) published a comprehensive review of grounds on which abortion is
permitted in Europe. They estimated that 26 of the 37 countries reviewed have
abortion laws that allow the procedures without restrictions in the first
trimester.
In the Netherlands, which has one of the lowest abortion rates in the world,
the law permits abortion virtually on request at any time between implantation
and 'viability', if performed by a physician in a licensed hospital. This is
within a framework which includes universal sex education, easily accessible
family planning and a provision of emergency contraception.
In the United States there has been a plethora of attacks on reproductive
rights, not least late abortions. The infamous Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act
became law in autumn 2003, but was declared unconstitutional by two federal
appeals courts on January 31. The courts stated that the act lacks an
exception for cases in which a woman's health is at stake.
The matter rests with the Supreme Court, which will now resolve the
constitutionality of this law. Unfortunately, Senate passed the Unborn Victims
of Violence Act by a vote of 61 to 38 votes on March 25 2004. Currently, 29
states have laws recognising killing of an unborn foetus as homicide. This
act, also known as the Laci and Conner law, came about when Laci Petersen, who
was pregnant at the time, was murdered by her husband. He was found guilty of
murdering not only his wife, but also their unborn son, Conner.
Mirroring this case, the act elevates the legal status of the foetus to that
of a social being, at any stage of development, when carried in the womb. The
Petersen case represented a brutal and tragic crime, but legislation on
the basis of singular events make for exceedingly bad law - in this instance a
back-door attempt to ban abortion.
And early 2006 South Dakota Senate voted yesterday to ban abortion in nearly
all circumstances except to save the woman's life. The Supreme Court has
already agreed to take up the federal abortion ban in its next term. At issue
there is whether women's health and safety remain a priority and whether women
and their doctors, rather than judges and politicians, will make private
medical decisions.
We will have to wait and see what happens in the South Dakota case and whether
this violates Roe v. Wade. The Bush administration is chipping away at
abortion rights and reproductive rights overall. These attacks threaten the
health and lives of women. And Bush has been packing the courts with
anti-abortionist supporters. Is a full scale attack on Roe v. Wade on its way?
There have been further attacks such as the 'global gag' rule which
denies US foreign assistance to organisations funding abortion services.
Then there is the emphasis on 'abstinence only' education, and the
freezing of funds for family planning programmes. It is now a federal crime
to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion, while the use
of condoms, the pill and other forms of contraceptives is increasingly
condemned.
Within the past couple of weeks Louisiana Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco
signed into law a ban on most abortions, which would be triggered if the
U. S .Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade
In Ohio, there are attempts to make it illegal to perform ANY abortion in Ohio
even if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest. Increase the penalties
for offences from a misdemeanour to a felony. And the fact it could be a crime
to transport anyone across county to state lines to obtain an abortion.
The percentage of all abortions at 20 weeks or more is small. It has
remained at between 1% and 1.6% of total terminations for many years. For
example, in England and Wales during 2002, there were 175,932
abortions, of which 2,874 were performed after 20 weeks.
Late abortions are rare and certainly the less bureaucracy, the more
likelihood that late abortions would be reduced (the primary providers
for late abortions are the independent sector, as opposed to the NHS).
But some women (from the scared and naive teenager to the older person
who thinks she is hitting the menopause) do not realise they are pregnant
until quite late. And restrictive laws themselves cause delays - for
example, forcing women to become 'abortion tourists' and make
arrangements to travel to a country where the termination can be carried out.
For whatever reasons, even if abortion were 'on request' up to 12 weeks
and the time limits were reduced, there would always be women who will
need a late abortion and we must defend that right.
In Ireland, many women find ways of overcoming the restrictive and
oppressive abortion laws. It is estimated that over 6,000 women (probably
more, as women travel to other parts of Europe as well as Britain) leave
Ireland every year to seek an abortion - many have to borrow the money
to travel and many will need late abortions due to the red tape and
bureaucracy.
Access to sex education and free contraception is equally vital. An
example is the morning-after pill - demand for Levonelle increases over
holiday periods (i.e., summer and Christmas), but, with GPs' surgeries and
pharmacists closed, accessibility is limited. Therefore advanced
prescription is an important service, although many women do not know they
can request it, according to the Family Planning Association. And
Levonelle costs £24 if you buy it over the counter - again highlighting the
problem of accessibility for poorer women.
Couple of months ago, the editor of Cosmo Girl delivered a petition to Downing
Street demanding better sex and relationship education in schools. The 'Just
say know' campaign revealed that a third of teens thought sex and
relationship education they had received was "rubbish" and more than 80%
felt it could be better.
We need a pro-choice campaign that encompasses all of these demands, and
ensures that a woman's right to control her own body is paramount. We need to
fight against the dictates of religious and state morality and for a system
which supports sex education and provides free and accessible contraception,
including the morning-after pill.
June 2006
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