Opinion: It's None Of Your Business - How Politicking Muddied Up The Debate Over A Woman's Right To Choose
Whether it’s in the first trimester or the third, does it really matter when the decision is made?
Jamie Mah @grahammah
Full disclosure: The last thing I want to write about today is abortion.
However, after reading a long and often frustrating Facebook thread this morning between several individuals who we’re trying to settle their positions on when an abortion can or cannot happen, I found myself unable to let go of the discussion as a whole, in that it made me wonder: why are we even analyzing this at all?
This morning’s debate came on the heels of two poignant abortion events this past week which saw a Conservative MP from Ontario declare his intentions at an anti-abortion rally that his government would look to make the act “unthinkable” for all Canadians. While the other saw the US state of Georgia pass a bill which all but makes abortion illegal with their new “heartbeat bill.”
These two incidences showcase a growing force for those who are pro-life. Whether backed by religious beliefs or morality, pro-life activists are gaining momentum in this sphere and it’s becoming apparent their means of dissension is to muck up the framework of what an abortion is.
The Georgia “heartbeat bill” signifies this motive. Abortion is still “technically” legal in Georgia, unless a heartbeat is heard, which at six weeks it usually can be. The end goal here for Georgia’s politicians is to make it so that having or trying to have an abortion is a really difficult process, with the hope that one might back down or be unable to have the procedure altogether.
From this concept, you can clearly see how horrible this decision is.
However, before I go any further, I personally want to make clear, what a woman chooses should be of no right of anyone else except hers and her alone. If she decides to have an abortion, then she should be allowed to do so. It’s her body and she can make whichever choice she wants with regards to having a child or not. The fact that discourse is had at the behest of someone else’s life and future is a weird thing to do, let alone act on. This is why I found this morning’s debate so fascinating and frustrating. When two men argue whether a woman has a right to have an abortion past a certain date or not, what are they fighting for, their own beliefs or the woman who’s actually pregnant?
It’s as if two individuals wanted to debate whether I should go to school or not, as if I were to have no say in the matter.
Now, I get that having a child and going to school are completely different scopes of severity, however, the idea behind the logic still stands. If two gay men or women want to get married, why do I care? Their choice has no bearing on my life or livelihood. Having or not having a child should come under the same scope. Yet, for some reason it doesn’t.
The politics of this action are unfortunately left to men and women with zero interest in what a women should or should not do. How does this make any sense? We let everyone in this country decide whichever course of action they so choose to take with their lives and say nothing, safe for one’s ability to abort something they may not be up to, willing, or be able to handle.
The overarching flaw in a pro-life advocate’s stance is: once the baby is born, then what? Will you be there to help raise it? Feed it? Care for it? Love it?
No. No, they will not, and this is how this debate should be framed.
The politics of when an abortion should happen, if at all, is one where those who want to deliberate its merits should ask themselves: if they were in that person’s shoes, would they want another to decide their fate?
Life isn’t easy and it certainly cannot be when a woman finds out that she’s pregnant. The decision she faces in that moment will change her life forever. I for one, do not want any part of that event. It’s none of my business and it certainly isn’t any of yours either. With the aid of her hopeful partner and family, a choice, which is right for her, abortion or not, is one I pray is made.
I understand the will of those who fight for pro-life. Life is beautiful and we should all want the best for each other. With that in mind, if having an abortion is what is right for her, isn’t that what really matters? She’s the one who’s alive right now. What about her? Shouldn’t her rights be more important than the life of a not yet born baby?
Sadly, it seems many proponents of the pro-life movement care only for their own beliefs and not that of a pregnant woman’s. This is disheartening to know and accept.
In the end, I have a few tips for all of you.
If you’re a woman who is pro life, then have a baby if you get pregnant.
If you’re a woman who is pro abortion and you don’t want to have a child, then have an abortion if you get pregnant.
If you’re neither, then fuck off!!!