Why are women still having to fight for bodily autonomy?
What’s happening in the US right now could have more sinister implications for the reproductive rights of women all around the world. And let’s be clear, data from the World Health Organisation shows that banning abortion has no effect on abortion rates throughout the world. It does however have an impact on women’s safety and their mortality.
Banning abortion puts us at risk of dying from a botched procedure. Going after women’s constitutional rights to an abortion really does feel like the far right is gunning for us. They intend to plant their flag deep in the wombs of the women of the world. Because, what happens in America echoes around the world. If women in the US lose their reproductive rights, we could be next.
Right now, in the US, the religious- and far-right are trying to overturn the 1973 landmark Roe v Wade ruling that recognised restrictive regulation of abortion is unconstitutional. Almost 50 years ago a US Supreme Court held that criminalising abortion in most instances violated a woman’s constitutional right to privacy.
The Court attempted to balance the State’s distinct compelling interests in the health of pregnant women and in the life of potential foetuses. This allowed the State to regulate abortion at approximately the end of the first trimester. But in May 2021 Texas adopted a law: that all abortions beyond when a foetal heartbeat can be detected, at around six weeks, are effectively banned. The ban shifted the responsibility to private citizens who would face a civil law suit if they performed an abortion, or even if they aided or abetted someone seeking an abortion. Like, if you drove your friend to a clinic, or stayed with them as support then you could face a fine of up to $10k, plus legal costs. Oh, and this law doesn’t care if you’ve been raped or if the pregnancy is a result of incest.
This rising concern for women’s rights has been triggered by a leaked draft of the US Supreme Court’s deliberations in a related case that suggests the Court plans to overturn the Roe v Wade ruling which established a constitutional right to abortion. If it does overturn the ruling then abortion in the US could be banned in 22 states. Some states have the paperwork sitting there, ready to go.
According to one source, women who are denied an abortion are almost four times more likely to be living below the poverty level. Forcing someone to carry out a pregnancy or to seek an unsafe abortion is a complete violation of a person’s human rights to privacy and bodily autonomy.
Why after 50 years are ‘pro-lifers’ and Republicans still wanting to destroy abortion rights? According to their own survey responses, anti-abortion voters are shown to be hostile to gender equality in practically every aspect. So, it’s gender war; misogyny in action. As women reach for gender equity around the world, as we grow in power and privilege, this is patriarchy’s latest effort to regain control of women’s bodies. In a patriarchal culture where sexual violence is still commonplace, preventing women from accessing the basic tool to prevent pregnancy after rape – and then jailing them if they do is, simply, gendercide.
Denying women the basic human right to make a decision about their body is unconstitutional and wrong.
The State needs to stay out of women’s wombs. We are not your country to colonise.
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