ISSUES
: Abortion
Chapter 2: Abortion debate
27
abortion in the UK so the procedure
can be regulated in the same way as
all other women’s healthcare.”
Now I am a feminist. I believe that
women should be allowed the same
rights, power and opportunities
as men. I am also an advocate of
women’s rights and of equality,
especially in healthcare.
But abortion is often not the best
healthcare for women. Arguments
for curbing the availability of
abortion are supported by mounting
evidence that the practice is actually
harmful to a woman’s physical and
emotional wellbeing. In a 2011 study,
the largest of its kind and published
in the prestigious
British Journal of
Psychiatry
, researchers concluded
that women having abortions
experience an 81% increased
risk of mental health problems.
It also found almost 10% of all
mental health problems in women
are shown to be directly linked to
abortion. Abortion has also been
shown to increase the risk of breast
cancer and subsequent premature
labours. [4]
Several pro-abortion, women’s
and feminist groups are backing
this campaign.
Royal College of Midwives chief
executive Cathy Warwick said it
had the RCM’s full support. “It is
about them (women) having control
over their own body and not having
their bodies subject to the diktats of
others, however well meaning.”[5]
I am a nurse, and in the course of my
job I meet midwives, both graduates
and students, who value the sanctity
of life in the unborn baby, and who
don’t share Cathy’s view. They
are strongly opposed to legally
allowing abortion at whatever stage
of pregnancy and I would like to
question what consultation the RCM
has conducted with its members to
voice this opinion and whether it is
truly representative of all midwives.
I do not want to belittle the impact
and the implications of an unwanted
or inconvenient pregnancy, and what
is often an extremely challenging
and difficult circumstance. Women
need maximum support at this
time, and the opportunity to have
unbiased counselling that includes
all possibilities, including adoption.
Let’s campaign for investment and
easier access to tailored support
in the common areas of financial
stressors, relationship problems,
education concerns or parenting
challenges that cause many women
to choose an abortion.
But this isn’t just an issue of
woman’s healthcare or rights or
woman’s choice. Another life is
involved here. Another life with rights
to protect, and let’s remember that
50% of these unborn babies are
females. I, like many, believe in the
intrinsic worth of every human being
regardless of race, religion, gender
or ability, from womb to tomb.
The advocates of the We Trust
Women campaign call the current
legislation against women aborting
“cruel and archaic”.
It’s certainly not cruel to the
voiceless and defenceless unborn
child it protects.
Sources
1.
Carlson, B. Human Embryology
& Developmental Biology,
Toronto: Mosby Publication; 3rd
edition, 2004; Tsiaras, A. and
Werth, B., From Conception to
Birth, a Life Unfolds, New York:
Doubleday, 2002.
2.
/
population/publications/
abortion/profiles.htm
3.
/
women/life/womens-charities-
call-to-end-cruel-abortion-laws-
in-the-uk/
4.
/
content/199/3/180
5.
-
views-and-analysis/news/
campaign-launched-to-remove-
abortion-form-criminal-law
25 February 2016
Ö
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