ISSUES
: Abortion
Chapter 2: Abortion debate
39
In the abortion debate, women’s
voices matter more than men’s
By Catriona Stewart
F
or women to have an equal place in society
they must have full autonomy over their bodies.
That’s really the beginning and the end of the
debate right there.
But of course, it’s not, because there are too many
outside factors vying to take a stake in what women
choose to do with their bodies and when.
With the proposed devolution of abortion legislation
from Westminster to Holyrood in the Scotland
bill, there has begun a bout of shadow boxing – of
arguments full of ifs, maybes and might bes.
If abortion legislation is devolved then maybe the
time limit, currently 24 weeks, will be reduced due to
the pressure of Scotland’s religious right. If abortion
legislation is devolved then maybe this will be the
chance for change, thanks to Scotland’s progressive
left.
Whether devolution will lead to challenges to the
current legislation is a wait-and-see issue. However,
the voices of those of an anti-abortion stance have
not seen fit to wait. I purposefully do not use the
expression ‘pro-life’ – it’s not pro the mother’s life, is
it?
Listening to this topic being debated last week and
this, it has been astounding the number of male
voices looking to set down their opinions as fact, their
opinions being that a foetus should have equal rights
to that of the woman gestating it. There was a chap
given airtime on the radio this week to say that he’s
not religious but, re: abortion, we’re all going to hell.
Though, it’s not that astounding that men should
feel it’s their place to tell women what to do with
their bodies. Parliament is male dominated. It is, in
reality, men who make the decisions about women’s
reproductive choices.
What I wonder about these men who like to shout their
opinions about situations that will never affect them
is this: why aren’t they using that breath to gather the
boys together for a bit of a chat? If it’s so important
to them that a woman carries to term a baby that she
does not want, cannot afford and that will alter her
life beyond recognition why aren’t these same men
making the effort to ensure that parental leave is
shared equally between men and women? Why aren’t
they at the head of the queue offering to go part time
or give up work to stay at home and look after the
children? Why aren’t they campaigning for the male
pill? Why are they not foster parents?
If all life is sacred, why are they not actively making
changes to societal frameworks that allow for
thousands of children to live in grinding poverty, day
in, day out, with barely hope of change?
Do they choose to use their bodies to sustain life – are
they organ donors? Do they regularly give blood? Can
I have a kidney, please?
If your viewpoint is that life begins at conception
that’s fine. It’s your viewpoint to hold. But it’s not a
viewpoint that should be used to turn women into little
more than vessels. And it is merely a viewpoint. There
is no medical, theological or philosophical agreement
on when life begins therefore facts must be used.
The fact is, there will be times that a woman’s life is
best served by not becoming a mother. Maybe she
was raped. Maybe her partner is violent or coercive.
Maybe she cannot financially sustain two lives. Maybe
it’s just not the right time.
Maybe she has agonised over the decision; maybe the
decision has given her no pause at all. Maybe she will
regret it for the rest of her life; maybe it will be the last
thing on her mind.
Where there is no maybe is that it must be her choice.
If men were told they had no right to decide for
themselves whether or not to remove a ball of cells
from their penises that is, at best, life changing
and, at worst, potentially lethal, there would be no
conversation to be had.
I wouldn’t for a minute suggest that men should hold
no view on abortion. But I would hope they could
separate the notion that all life brings joy from the fact
women have a right to be more than a vessel, whether
that is for another human being or for religious
ideology or for sentiment.
The devolution of abortion to Scotland has the potential
to open up a space for debate but it’s women’s voices
I want to hear, not the scolding of men with nothing
to gain and nothing to lose. Men who will raise their
voices for an unformed, abstract foetus and not for
the experience of the fully formed women in front of
them.
16 November 2015
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