Earlier this week, I had an hour free between my lectures, and after spending a good half hour reading and watching meaningless news items on the internet, I thought I’d visit The Independent’s website to catch up on current and worthwhile news. My Dad would be so proud!
The second the page loaded an article on abortion immediately caught my eye. In short, it was discussing the #ShoutYourAbortion campaign, which was started by campaigners in the US, after the House of Representatives voted, in a highly controversial decision, to withdraw federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is a non-profit American medical organisation which dispenses free contraception, advice and sexual health care.
So after reading this I set out to find out the difference in obtaining an abortion in the UK compared to the US and what a difference I discovered I must say! In the UK, if a woman’s reason for obtaining an abortion complies with the Abortion Act of 1967, then she needs the signatories of two medical doctors and the procedure to take place in a hospital or licensed clinic. There is also a time limit on when abortions can be administered which is 24 weeks. Usually after this the foetus is deemed too developed and carrying out the procedure can be harmful to the woman. Additionally the woman could go through counselling sessions (if she wants) with a medical doctor to help cope with the experience, as having an abortion can be a traumatic ordeal especially at a younger age.
However in the US, as a result of the Federal system, though all states must provide the facilities for abortions, state legislatures have a great deal of liberty to decide the circumstances under which one can be administered. In Texas for example, public funding is available for abortions only in the cases of life endangerment, rape or incest. Now as healthcare in America is not cheap, if your health insurance does not cover your abortion and your reason for obtaining one does not comply with the state law then the law sadly doesn’t leave you with many options. Even if you’re one of the ‘lucky ones’ whose decision over what to do to their own body is respected, 24 hours before your abortion, it is state law in Texas that you must receive counselling, with the aim of discouraging you from going through with the procedure. The sad fact of the matter is, for Texan women, it’d probably be easier to get on a flight to Canada, one of the few countries that has no criminal law restricting abortion, than attempt to get one in your home state.
After becoming aware of the many barriers women in the States face in trying to have an abortion, I must say I can genuinely understand the frustration behind the campaign. Even though I will never have an abortion myself, because of my own beliefs; that is a choice I have made over my body and in that same respect every woman deserves to make the right choice for herself. So this stigma surrounding abortion has got to go. I’m not here to preach tolerance because it’s ‘my body, my right’. Quite frankly, what women are allowed to do to their own body shouldn’t be decided by a room full of mostly white, middle-aged, middle class men. It’s really none of their business now is it?