Let's
get this out of the way to start with: I do not
pretend to understand your beliefs because I simply
wasn't raised to know of their existence, or your
struggle, for it is not mine. I am a liberal, a
feminist, a student, young and female. I am an Atheist,
a former Jehovah's Witness and from an almost entirely,
let's say...aspirational Protestant family.
I am also, extremely, rabidly, militantly and unapologetically
pro-choice (or pro-abortion if you wish, or, my
personal favourite, anti-life) and I believe
that the issue of abortion is one that it is vital
all sections of Northern Ireland address, and soon.
I also believe that Roman Catholicism, second only
to Islam, is the most restrictive, oppressive, and
damaging to women religion in the world. Oh, I know
that most Catholics don't really think that women
are nothing more than walking uteri, capable only
of popping out foetus after foetus. I know that
plenty of people consider themselves good Catholics
and still use birth control. I know that of the
thousands of Northern Irish women who travel to
England every year for abortions, many of them are
Catholic, quite a few probably even against abortion
- until it happens to them of course, and then it's
different.
It
has been said to me so many times that abortion
in this country is not a political issue. This astounds
me for I can think of no more perfect an example
of a political issue. Not only that, it is one of
the only political issues that both sides of the
Catholic vs. Protestant debate can agree on. Where
women's rights are concerned, old Ian and Gerry
could have quite the male bonding sesh. I think
attitudes towards abortion in Northern Ireland are
fairly typical of attitudes that present any kind
of challenge to the status quo here - ignore it.
Bury our heads in the sand and pretend it doesn't
exist. The fact that abortion is relatively easily
available to Northern Irish women in England (in
private clinics at a cost of up to £1000 rather
than the NHS of course, despite the fact that we
are tax-paying UK citizens...and yes we are,
whether you like it or not), makes this possible.
I guarantee that if the UK had banned Northern Irish
women from travelling to England, abortion here
would have been legalised a long time ago. As it
is, we have one of the most restrictive laws in
Europe. In 2004, we still have a law originally
based on, and only slightly modified since, the
1861 Offences Against the Person Act. Victorian
law in the 21st century. That's some deep-ass denial.
There
is some good news, however. After three years, the
FPA (Family Planning Association) have finally succeeded
in their attempt to order the DHSSPS to review the
Northern Ireland abortion guidelines. This will
not change the law, but it will hopefully at least
make it clearer. After the first failed attempt
by the FPA, the leading anti-abortion organization
in Northern Ireland, Precious Life, (a group that
has been involved in violent protests, has recruited
an army of girls that are practically foetuses themselves,
and has aligned with and modelled itself on the
same far-right American groups whose members have
been responsible for attacks on US abortion clinics
and doctors - and there you were all this time thinking
I'm the extremist - oh, don't believe me?
one word: Google), declared victory and stated that
Northern Irish law was clear enough as it is. This
despite the fact that the current law prohibits
almost all abortions unless the woman's life is
in danger or there are serious foetal abnormalities,
yet approximately 70 abortions (though there are
no official figures) are performed here "therapeutically"
each year. After the granting of the review this
month, Precious Life yet again declared victory
(wow, impressive!), this time stating that the review
would actually tighten the above abortion law here
- er, how exactly can a law like that be
tightened?
What
it all comes down to, for me at least, is that old
maxim - "my body, my choice". I am well aware that
abortion is not a pleasant issue. Nor is it the
right option for all women with an unplanned pregnancy.
Of course some women who have abortions will regret
them. We make a lot of choices in life, and we don't
always make the right one. Does that mean that the
choice shouldn't exist for anyone else? Yes, abortion
is a significantly bigger choice than most, but
are women not capable of making that decision for
themselves? Do we not have the ability to make our
choices and bear the consequences? Why are we still
being treated like the infants the government and
anti-abortion groups want to force on us against
our will? Why aren't we more outraged at this? Abortion
exists, has always existed, will always exist, in
Northern Ireland. You almost certainly know at least
one woman who has had an abortion. You might not
know you know, but you do. And it is time, long,
long overdue, but time, now, for Northern
Irish women and men (for this is not a fight we
can win alone, nor is it only a "women's issue")
to demand an explanation for the hypocrisy of this
situation. To "stop exporting the issue", to demand
the right to decide what happens to our bodies before
that right is completely taken away.
"I
will choose what enters me, what becomes flesh of
my flesh. Without choice, no politics, no ethics
lives. I am not your cornfield, not your uranium
mine, not your calf for fattening, not your cow
for milking. You may not use me as your factory.
Priests and legislators do not hold shares in my
womb or my mind. If I give it to you, I want it
back. My life is a non-negotiable demand." - Marge
Piercy
(*Title quote by Audre Lorde.)
