Being pro choice is something I feel very passionate about, especially as a woman. But I still find it hard to write about because the conversation is so widely suppressed that I often get scared to merely bring it up. This is a huge problem because the only way we can learn is if we can openly talk.
Conversation and opposing opinions should under no circumstance take away a woman’s reproductive rights, the basic idea that a person should have complete bodily autonomy should always prevail.
Usually, the counter-argument to that would claim that the foetus is its own person (this is another debate in itself and I’m writing this from the perspective that a foetus is a potential person not a person with potential) and should have its own rights separate from those of the mother, however, during pregnancy this foetus is physically a part of the woman’s body and last I checked, this wasn’t our choice.
I fully acknowledge that so many couples go through a lot to conceive but this shouldn’t mean that all women are subject to the same desires, because we’re not, we’re human and we’re all different. Forcing a woman to have a child that was accidentally conceived because it’s what a woman or a couple should want according to societal or religious standards is not fair.
Moreover, the whole idea of being pro choice is simply supporting the notion that all women should have complete authority over their own bodies, it doesn’t mean that you yourself would have an abortion; it just means that you respect one’s right to choose.
On a different note, this judgement that surrounds abortion is a detrimental issue in itself, especially since it generally comes from someone who could never imagine being put under the situation of underestimated stress that a woman or a couple is submitted to when considering an abortion. This means you’re either a man or a person who doesn’t have to apprehend the worry of being pregnant and hardly being able to support oneself, let alone an ever growing child. Therefore neither society, nor religion, nor a government should dictate the actions over a woman’s body that would greatly alter her future because they could never actually experience the situation.
I say this being pro choice with profound sympathy towards those going through the process of an abortion, it is not a circumstance that anyone wants to be in, it brings about tremendous mental and physical trauma that no one in their right mind would ever ask for. Consequently, one should trust that those who choose to have an abortion have extensively thought it through and considered all options, it is NOT easy.
Another aspect of this argument and something I strongly believe is that since abortion is legal in foreign countries, people with the financial means will travel and get it done.
Keeping abortion illegal in Malta completely erodes the chance of a person who cannot afford travelling for such a procedure to have a safe and regulated abortion and henceforth this law discriminates against the less financially fortunate.
Ultimately outlawing abortion does not remove the issue of high rates of unwanted pregnancies. This should be tackled from its roots and hence I believe that this can be done through better sexual education and free forms of contraception. All children should be taught how to protect themselves during sex once they hit puberty, and all forms of safe birth control should be advocated and made a lot more available to all persons.
This topic is one I can argue about for days but I’ll save you from that and simply say that stripping away the choice of abortion is stripping away the fundamental right of a woman over her own body, and in reality one’s body is the only thing that is always and truly theirs.
About the Author
A.S.T. is a 19 year old woman who’s currently studying and is very interested in and passionate about human rights. She is strongly against all forms of discrimination and through this she will try her best to vocalise her opinions in an impactful way.
