Legalising Abortion Will Empower Women And Give Them The Bodily Autonomy They Deserve!

Whether a woman wants to carry a foetus or not, is her choice. Making abortion illegal only takes away that right from her!

Whether a woman wants to carry a foetus or not, is her choice. Making abortion illegal only takes away that right from her!

Against abortion?

Here is a little insight for all the people who think that abortion should be banned or made illegal by the government.

Nobody should take a woman’s right from taking a decision about her body. Whether the unborn child poses a threat to the mother or not shouldn’t be a parameter. It should be a woman’s decision if she wants to carry the child, not the state’s! A baby is ‘inside’ the body of a woman which gives her all the rights to decide what goes on in her body. Nobody has the right to take away this freedom from her.

What if the woman is not ready, be it emotionally, physically, financially or mentally? A child is not just limited to pregnancy. He/she will have a life beyond that too.

But what about the woman’s autonomy over her body?

People often claim that abortion causes pain to the baby. I won’t be going deep into this biology because only a doctor can tell the actual facts. But if you talk about causing pain, who will deal with the pain of that child when he/she grows up and doesn’t get a life favourable to them? Think about the poor child who might not be able to get the life he/she deserved just because the mother wasn’t ready to have them.

The woman is the only one nurturing the foetus. It’s not about the child’s right to live, it’s about a woman’s right to bodily autonomy. If you don’t support abortion, don’t get one. But no one has a right to meddle in this personal decision of a woman.

Abortion is considered murder by people. Murder is a very incorrect term here. Abortion is done on a bunch of cells that would develop into a full ‘human being’ in the future of the pregnancy. It’s not a human inside a womb. What’s shocking is just how many people care more about something that isn’t even alive, rather than the mother who is alive.

Never miss real stories from India's women.

Register Now

It is ironic how people have sympathy and compassion for someone who isn’t born and developed but no concern for the fully grown woman. They barely care about her feelings, emotions, and the stress, anxiety, and financial issues that will occur if she isn’t ready for the child.

Don’t women deserve safer options for abortions?

Talking on a very practical note, if someone has decided that they don’t want to keep the baby, they’ll still do so. This will lead to unsafe abortions performed by untrained professionals, which puts the woman’s life at risk. Making abortions legal will help in women empowerment because they will have access to safe abortions.

It is estimated that 15.6 million abortions take place in India every year. A significant proportion of these are expected to be unsafe. Unsafe abortion is the third largest cause of maternal mortality leading to the death of 10 women everyday day and thousands more facing morbidities. There is a need to strengthen women’s access to CAC services and preventing deaths and disabilities faced by them.

Making abortions illegal won’t impact the rich. Look at this from an economist point of view. The rich can get an abortion by bribing the doctors or by flying to a country where abortion is legal. However, the people who will ultimately suffer is the middle class and the poor because they don’t have so much money.

This is not just a fight for women’s rights. It is a fight against income inequality. A fight between rich and poor. Taking a decision like this will eventually worsen the life of the poor. Taking the burden of an extra child will lead to extra expenses which the poor cannot afford. Then why push them to such a misery?

Let women have the autonomy!

Contraceptives are an option to prevent unwanted pregnancies but no contraception is 100% effective. It’s very common for pregnancy to occur even if the partners use birth control methods.

Why can’t people have an open enough mind to accept something as basic as a human right? We all know what happened in Poland recently. Is the government so indifferent to their women that they are stripping them away from their bodily rights?

If someone wants to carry a baby, it’s their choice. But if someone doesn’t, it’s still their choice. No woman should be forced into any decision.

Let me state it straight away: Abortion is not murder!

Picture credits: Photo by olia danilevich from Pexels

Liked this post?

Join the 100000 women at Women's Web who get our weekly mailer and never miss out on our events, contests & best reads - you can also start sharing your own ideas and experiences with thousands of other women here!

Comments

About the Author

Mehar Juneja

A writer, who writes for a cause. Deeply committed to raising awareness and advocating for critical social issues, aiming to inspire action and positive change through my work. Whether it's through thought-provoking articles read more...

5 Posts | 5,165 Views

Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!

All Categories