Mind Your Own Uterus
4,300 miles away in the state of Alabama a law was passed three weeks ago that would go on to ignite debate, dismay and disbelief.
On the 16th May 2019 hundreds and thousands of women across the world woke to the news of a moment in American history that would be immortalised for all the wrong reasons. A moment that made so many of us close our eyes in disbelief and pray for the future. I was one of those women.
1 in 4 women will experience an abortion at some point in their lives and according to a study by WHO and the Guttmacher Institute between 2010 and 2014, 45% of all abortions carried out were classed as unsafe.
Governor Kay Ivey, a white middle-class American woman, dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s on a bill that would go on to implement one the strictest US abortion laws in the country’s history. A bill that enforces a near total ban on abortion, thus making it a crime to perform any kind of procedure at any stage of a woman’s pregnancy. There will be no exceptions for cases of rape, incest, or underage pregnancy.
If a practiced doctor is found to have successfully performed a procedure they will be charged with a Class A felony, that is a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of 99 years in jail; the same level of punishment as murderers and rapists.
Abortion has always been a controversial subject in America, one that has been at the forefront of headlines for decades, but this new law in Alabama has triggered mass shock and online horror.
Is this because so many of us take our abortion services for granted? Or is it because this conversation has come out of one of the richest and most powerful countries in the world, one that should be moving forward, not backwards? Or, is it simply because the bill was signed by none other than a woman?
I’m not going to sit here and dissect each and every political and social point that’s been raised since this event took place. Nor am I going to preach about what people should and shouldn’t believe in. However, what I will say is, no matter where you are in the world, what you believe in and how you were raised, we cannot sit back and scroll past this catastrophic
turn of events. Something needs to be done, not just for America but for every country in the world that does not provide safe and legal abortion services for their young women. That ultimately does not offer the freedom of choice for their young women.
Currently in 2019 there are 26 countries where abortion is illegal and a further 100 countries where procedures are only carried out in extreme medical conditions, these figures highlight how much needs to be done.
An example of the repercussions of this new bill in America is the case of an 11 year old girl from Ohio, who in April discovered she was pregnant with her rapists child, a man 14 years her senior. This new law would now mean that the young girl cannot have an abortion and therefore must carry her rapists baby to full term and deliver the child, can I just reiterate, she is 11 years old.
She isn’t allowed to drive a car, leave education or access her own personal records, yet she is expected to deliver and raise a child when she is still one herself.
What’s more, the new law will restrict women from having an abortion once the foetus’s heartbeat is detected. A heartbeat can be heard at just 5 or 6 weeks, often before the woman herself knows she is pregnant meaning there is no get out clause, by the time you’ve peed on the stick it’s most likely already too late.
There are thousands of case studies across the world of women who are victims of rape, abuse and neglect that have had to abandon their jobs, careers and futures to deliver a child they never asked for and never wanted.
What happened to freedom of choice? Being in control of our own lives and futures? Why are we allowing a privileged white supremacist to make the decision for so many undervalued women? I can’t answer those questions, but what I can do is raise awareness for organisations that are working tirelessly to help give women the voice they should have had yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever more.
Here are just a microscopic amount of movements and organizations available for people who want to see a change occur for young women and girls across the world. We honestly can’t do this without your voices, without your passion to see a difference. Let’s begin the evolution, let’s begin to clear the smoke and see the light, the hope and the freedom.
https://www.prochoiceamerica.o...
https://www.womensequality.org...
https://www.plannedparenthood....
https://www.abortionrights.org...
Thank you,
G x
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