I am sick and tired of hearing about this

I am tired of hearing about abortion bans in the states. Each time I think, "this has gone far enough," and yet it seems like no, it never has. Anti-choice people in the states will stop at nothing to make sure abortions are unsafe and illegal and carry severe consequences.

Note I did not say that they are trying to stop abortion: you can't stop abortion from happening. I don't understand why people don't get this. Women are going to get abortions, regardless of whether it's legal or not. You cannot change that. It will always, always remain that way. So what's happening here is a total devaluation of women. This fact doesn't even take into account whether abortion is morally okay or not. It just is. Women are going to have abortions, and what you're really voting on here is whether or not you're going to provide them in a safe, clean, sterile, and supportive environment, or whether they're going to resort to shady back-door coat-hanger poison pill abortions. I don't get it. I don't understand why you wouldn't want to support women,and to me, banning abortion is just another way of saying that you don't value women's lives.

To me, the suggestion that if I get pregnant I can't stop that, suggests that people value my ability to give birth above any other abilities I might have and any autonomy over my own body that I have because that is a human right. Is my uterus really the most important thing about me? Is it more important than me? Or am I just a uterus? I am more than that- all females are more than that. We are more than just our uterus (I use females here to refer to biological sex, and women to refer to gender (I know it's gender binary but just work with me here, okay?))

Another thing that strikes me as odd is this hypothetical scenario: Let's say I die in a tragic accident, and somehow my heart isn't injured. The same day I am brought to the hospital because of said tragic accident, another patient whose heart has been damaged somehow is in the hospital. They are in desperate need of a transplant. However, the surgeons at the hospital cannot just take my heart and put it in their body if I have not consented. I have that kind of control over my body- even if that person would die, my autonomy is still respected. Now, let's say that fetuses are people, and compare that situation to one in which I want an abortion because of an oops during sexual activity or because I was sexually assaulted. In this situation, according to anti-choicers, I do not have autonomy over my body, because it would kill a person (if we go by the logic of fetuses being persons, which I recognize not everyone agrees with). The funny thing is, you never hear anti-choicers complaining about the fact that we can't just harvest dead organs from people to save others who would otherwise die. In both cases, someone could die unless an organ from my body is used (and the second case is much more invasive). So why is the second case so protected and debated? Why am I given more bodily autonomy if I am dead than if I am living?

That is what really strikes me as odd, and this is why I say, keep abortion legal and safe. It is fine to not believe in abortions. It is fine to discuss both sides with friends, peers, family, etc. But it is not okay for you to make that decision for me, just like you cannot make the decision to use my heart to save someone else if I died and my heart was unaffected. I demand a right to bodily autonomy, and I demand it for every female person in the world. I also demand a world in which the safety of women is respected. And I shouldn't have to demand these things because they're, y'know, basic fucking human rights, but I do.

Thankfully, I live in Canada, where I don't think there currently is a law on abortion- and if that's the only way to keep people happy, I say we keep it that way. Obviously if I become sexually active in a way that involves the risk of pregnancy, I'm going to take every precaution I can to prevent getting pregnant (and right now that just means a lot of abstinence from those activities, which is fine with me because getting pregnant is not something I can handle right now). And if I did get pregnant, there is no question- I would seek an abortion as soon as possible. I can't afford to have a child right now- I'm 18 years old, for crying out loud. And I would not be able to handle the looks I would get. I look about 15 or 16 years old, and I can't even imagine going to university classes while pregnant, not to mention the fact that being pregnant is horribly physically stressing on the body. I can't handle that right now.

I think the obvious argument that right-wingers pull out here is "well just don't have sex then." Except that's another unavoidable fact- people are going to engage in sexual activities that involve a risk of pregnancy. And yet, despite the fact that better sexual education and access to contraceptives means fewer abortions, the right wing is trying to ban those, too. It's clear to me now: the right wing wants to revert back to a time when women's virginity and uterus were the most important thing about them, when they were nothing more than that. And that does not sit right with me. I will not let that happen. Though I do not live in the states, I support the feminists who do, the ones who are fighting for reproductive justice and bodily autonomy for all female people (not to mention a shit-ton of other things).

If you disagree with me, I suggest you stop reading my blog. We're not going to get along, I am not going to consider your point of view (though that does not mean that you can't choose to not want an abortion for yourself- I am not going to restrict you that choice, it is up to you and only you what is best for you), because it is wrong to deny women the choice to do what they feel is right with their body, and it is not your choice to make for them. Butt out.

yer pal,
swegan :)