Reproductive Freedom

A recent anti-choice opinion piece in an Australian newspaper complains that pro-choicers "claim that this agonising decision has no long-term effect." Perhaps they claim that because it's true. (Interestingly, the article writer is described as a "research officer", but rather than referring to any studies she tells us it's "intuitively true" that abortion traumatises women. Oh, and by the way, feminists hate men.)

PPFA also lists Nine Reasons Why Abortions Are Legal, stating the pro-choice case clearly and straightforwardly. Each reason is important, but for me, the discriminatory aspects of outlawing abortion are particularly powerful arguments. Making abortion illegal again would affect women but not men, poor women but not rich women, and would affect women of colour more than White women.

Something I'm interested in are the reasons why women chose abortion. I'd particularly like to understand the overwhelming motivations that have sent countless women to the backyard abortionist, risking mutilation and death as well as the displeasure of the law. The "research officer" tells us women have abortions because they're "desperate, trapped". Tellingly, she says: "Don't let women have abortions they don't want." (My emphasis.) Australian pro-lifers have referred to women's selfish, casual attitude to terminating their pregnancies - a "quick, cheap fix". I'm researching the actual reasons women give for their decision, and I'll say more about that shortly.

You know, I need to make a specific reproductive freedom ikon, but it's hard to think of something original, meaningful and tasteful.