Guyana has very progressive legislation regarding medical termination of pregnancy, yet for many abortion remains a shameful thing to talk about.
The recent rolling back of abortion rights by the Supreme Court in America, coupled with the German Government finally scrapping the Nazi-era law that banned (yes banned) doctors from offering information about abortion procedures just last week, made me realise how easily the rights of women could be snatched away and how through shaming them women could be sneakily robbed of their right to agency.
There is usually an extremist viewpoint on one side of the argument for the right to abortion. Even when the issue surrounds rape or ectopic pregnancy (where the egg fertilises outside of the womb and if ruptured can result in the loss of life), the reasoning is still cushioned in an atmosphere of shame and worst-case scenario reasoning. For many, the shame is rooted in conservative values, religion, and societal pressure all while ignoring the sole person who it affects the most, the woman.
Today, I want to remind you that the people who have abortions aren’t just the ones saddled with the trauma of rape and ectopic pregnancies; they are also:
● The people in both happy and unhappy marriages and relationships. It is the couple that is either financially stable or unstable that opt for it.
● The woman who is unsure of her future with her partner and doesn’t want a child from the relationship until its steady or simply wants to wait to see what her other options are.
● The woman whose contraceptive fails her and the woman whose doctor denies her preferred choice of contraceptive and uses an app to track when she ovulates and that too fails her due to a tech glitch.
● The woman whose circumstances have changed even though the pregnancy was once desired.
● The woman in a relationship marred with intimate partner violence.
● The girl whose parents despised sexual education and who experimented with her high school love flame.
● The girl who knew what the outcome would be and now wants the abortion.
● The mother who offers herself daily up to the altar of motherhood under a capitalist frame-work and who loves her children but can no longer sacrifice her sense of self.
● The woman who just ain’t want pickney.
● The girl or woman who just wants to pursue her dreams alone and is afraid that a child will hold her back.
Abortion is solely a woman’s right and once we continue to use language and worst-case scenario situations to determine its validity we are stripping women of their agency and their right to choose what works best for them. Abortion remains relatively cheap and easily accessible particularly in Georgetown. For women wishing to terminate within the first 2 months, not a single reason is required and there is also no age restriction for those who want to access the service.
