Abortion is a Universal Right

 Hi. Welcome back!

In this post I am going to be discussing abortion and how it is a universal right for women all over the world. I will also be discussing Northern Ireland's strange outlook on the accessibility of this topic. 

First of all, a little bit of education. An abortion can be carried out in the UK up until 24 weeks of pregnancy, (12 weeks in NI). This is because if the foetus is born after this point it has a chance of survival. Any baby born before this time scientifically cannot live as their lungs and other vital organs have not fully developed. The media as well as some religious foundations have led many people to believe that life starts at conception, but tell me does this week old embryo look like a living thing? The definition for life in the Oxford dictionary is seen as "the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death" As you can see, this embryo cannot reproduce or do any functional activity. I will agree that it does have the capacity for growth but even then, it is doing that by feeding off its host and is not independent as it cannot consume or digest.

We have all heard the burning hospital argument about if you were in a burning fertility ward would you save the IVF Petri dishes or a 20 year old women. I for one (and I hope most people will agree with me) would save the woman as I would think of her future, her family, how she would get injured and be in pain. Embryos cannot feel pain and it is scientifically proven their pain receptors do not develop until week 24-25, according to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. 

This is all very relevant with the Rowe V Wade overturn in America. From having the right to get an abortion from 1973 and being ahead of many countries in the world when it came to allowing this procedure, I feel for the women who are affected by this injustice. Although I would like to talk about something a lot closer to home, Northern Ireland. Abortion became legal in the UK in 1967, although NI didn’t make abortion legal for another 53 years until 2020. Under UK law abortions in England, Scotland and Wales are covered by the NHS, it is most likely to be done in the same country that the person lives in with little travelling usually involved. Although, NI is completely different, as a first world country we have sufficient hospitals, clinics, education on the subject as well as funding. But when someone needs an abortion in NI they have to travel to the mainland in order to get this procedure. This is done free of charge under the NHS but this travelling must be so emotionally draining before and after a procedure as invasive as this. A lot of women receiving this procedure have been through something extremely damaging such as rape, some women have to get an abortion as their health could be at risk without it. I also know that some women will simply just not want children but be slightly down that they are not in the right financial or mental position to handle a child at that moment. It is also important to consider the women who will not have any strong feelings towards the procedure and THIS IS 100% OKAY! People react differently.

For many years women who want an abortion or just women who don’t want kids in general have been told that they will want them in the future, that they will want one when they get a partner, as well as that their body is specifically made for this task. I for one find this extremely interesting because if that is what women are “made to do” why scientifically is a foetus described as a parasite. This is because it avoids rejection by the “mother” and exerts considerable influence over its host for its own benefits by diverting blood and nutrients.

All in all, there are many things I could have touched on within this subject and I plan to write about them in the future. I think the main thing we need to take from this is that the media doesn’t always portray things correctly and it will bend things to its favour. Personally, the only people that should be allowed to comment on abortion and women’s rights as a whole are women. We cannot allow certain beliefs to get in the way of healthcare, we cannot allow men who will never have this issue dictate what happens. At the end of the day, abortions will not stop, but safe procedures will.

Thanks,

Rebecca x