Anti-choice zealots standing outside abortion clinics shouting hateful things at the women who enter couldn't possibly have negative impacts, could it? The stigma that the anti-choicers are working hard to attach to abortion and the women who have them couldn't possibly result in death and maiming, could it? According to Eddie Mhlanga, the head of the UZKN Medical School's Obstetrics and Gynecology unit, yes it can.
Stigma creates fertile ground for illegal abortion providers to manipulate and possibly kill vulnerable women who acquire their services...
In KwaZulu-Natal in particular, health workers are still very judgmental, sometimes deliberately, to poor women who are in most need of the government facility... Mhlanga added that many KZN hospitals made it difficult even for health workers who wanted to provide the service, as they were called "murderers" and "terminators".
Anti-choicers often push this idea that they are working to reduce the number of abortions, that by standing outside abortion clinics shouting hateful things or condescendingly praying for the fetuses they are convincing women not to have abortions. The experience in South Africa seems to show, however, that rather than convincing women not to have an abortion, they are convincing them instead to have it in the shadows, where it is unsafe but secret.
Also in the article - another anti-choice claim shot down by data taken after South Africa's Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act is the idea that back alley abortions don't result in problems. That women don't die from them. Hmmmm... according to the article deaths from septic abortions have dropped by 90%, the number of women coming in from botched abortions dropping from 12 or 14 to 1 or 2 at one hospital. I thought women didn't die from illegal abortion? Or are the anti-choicers now going to fall back on the disgusting idea that these women deserved it?
3 comments:
First of all, I do see where you're coming. I understand that you are interested in protecting the women from harm and so that is why you want to promote legalized abortion. However, what the argument doesn't cover is the other side: The Pro-life crowd (a.k.a. anti-choice) in order to make your argument stronger; you spend more time showing how narrow-minded they are instead of showing your audience what they believe in and why it's wrong (although these pro-life people do sound rude). By not doing your research on the opposition; you make it look like you're hiding something from the audience.
Next, I'll explain the pro-life crowd. Why are they fighting tooth and nail to prevent women from getting an abortion? There are two major reasons; one is that unborn child is just as alive as you and me, and the second reason is the repercussions the woman faces from getting an abortion.
There is plenty of evidence supporting that the child is a life. According to the Merck’s Manual (a medical book used by most physicians) the embryo has developed a respiratory system, eyes, ears, and a sustainable heart beat by 3rd and 4th week. The embryo also has brain wave activity between the 5th and 6th week. Most women at this point are just discovering that they are pregnant. According to any real doctor, they would consider this baby a living human, not a mass of tissue.
The next issue with abortion is what it does to the woman, both physically and emotionally. 1 out of 500 women suffer life-threatening complications (and these were legal abortions), and the most noticeable are psychological and social disorders. Statistics show that women who get an abortion are 4 times more likely to suffer from psychological disorders. . 55% expressed guilt, 44% complained of nervous disorders, 36% had experienced sleep disturbances/visitations from their unborn child, 31% had regrets about their decision, and 11% had been prescribed psychotropic medicine by their family doctor. Overall, 80% of women expressed a self-hatred because they felt like they were taking a life.
Long in the Short of it, make sure that you consider your opposing team because we can comment on your argument and make you look narrow-minded. I know that you were simply trying to state that women deserve the best treatment possible, but don't you think that they should get the whole truth about all the side-effects of abortion instead of just the benefits of a well done procedure?
I'm well aware of the what opponents of legal abortion. Most of it, however, is irrelevant. Take, for example, your contention that an embryo is a life. Yes, it is alive. We can even grant that it is a person. But no person, not even a full grown adult, has the right to use your body without you consent. That is the reason women have a right to terminate a pregnancy if they choose.
I can't possibly rehash all the anti-choice arguments every time I post on abortion. My main point with this post was just to show that the stigma they attempt to attach to abortion can actually harm women. That's all.
*opponents of legal abortion have to say*
Goodness, I need more coffee
Post a Comment