Countries where abortion is illegal and cannot be performed without the consent of the woman concerned alone scare me quite simply because not having that right means that the woman loses a significant amount of control over her own body and her own life. And no, it's not about being pro-abortion, it's not about being stupid and requiring to have one performed due to sheer carelessness or negligence but about being able to make choices since no one can know what's best in any particular situation but the people involved. Not government and not priests.
Many abortions in the developed world may be the result of irresponsibility. That isn't true in the developed world though; few women have access to any form of contraception and fewer still are in a position to be able to ensure that they don't become pregnant. Making abortion illegal does very little apart from forcing people to have children whom they often can't support or forcing them to have illegal abortions.
I was once told by a friend, a devout Roman Catholic, that he believes that abortion is always wrong because he believes that life is sacred. I believe that abortion is sometimes an ethically viable option because, like him, I too believe that life is sacred. There are few things worse than to create a child whom you cannot support, whom you can't love, who you know will die a gruesome early death because of some genetic problem or who you know will never be treated with even the slightest amount of dignity by the people in your world.
Thankfully, the Indian Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act seems to agree with this.
Section 3. When pregnancies may be terminated by registered medical practitioners:
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), a registered medical practitioner shall not be guilty of any offence under that Code or under any other law for the time being in force, if any pregnancy is terminated by him in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (4), a pregnancy may be terminated by a registered medical practitioner, -
(a) Where the length of the pregnancy does not exceed twelve weeks if such medical practitioner is, or
(b) Where the length of the pregnancy exceeds twelve weeks but does not exceed twenty weeks, if not less than two registered medical practitioner are, of opinion, formed in good faith, that -
(i) the continuance of the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or of grave injury to her physical or mental health; or
(ii) there is a substantial risk that if the child were born, it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities to be seriously handicapped.
Explanation 1 - Where any pregnancy is alleged by the pregnant woman to have been caused by rape, the anguish caused by such pregnancy shall be presumed to constitute a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman.
Explanation 2 - Where any pregnancy occurs as a result of failure of any device or method used by any married woman or her husband for the purpose of limiting the number of children, the anguish caused by such unwanted pregnancy may be resumed to constitute a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman.
(3) In determining whether the continuance of a pregnancy would involve such risk of injury to the health as is mentioned in sub-section (2), account may be taken of the pregnant women’s actual or reasonable foreseeable environment.
(4)(a) No pregnancy of a woman, who has not attained the age of eighteen years, or, who, having attained the age of eighteen years, is a lunatic, shall be terminated except with the consent in writing of her guardian.
(b) Save as otherwise provided in clause (a), no pregnancy shall be terminated except with the consent of the pregnant woman.
Addendum:
I just came across this line by a 17 year-old girl: "I feel like we're all survivors of abortion." It left me horrified.
What amazes me most about this (and other issues related to women’s rights) is the number of teenagers and young women who advocate turning the clock back. My generation seems to be far more conservative than my parents’; in my own family, I know that my mum is far more liberal than me. Nonetheless, I don’t understand women who say that women shouldn’t have rights such as this, or that domestic violence should not be made a crime etc. Perhaps those who take their rights for granted have absolutely no understanding of what it is like to have to live without those rights.
