There’s a pretty serious court case underway in the United States that could severely restrict women’s access to abortion.
It has a lot of women worried, and in an attempt to sway the Supreme Court Justices deciding the case, women are speaking out about their own abortion experiences, in a brief filed with the court.
The brief is an important step forward in a seriously broken-recordy debate.
It’s really important that women talk about their abortion experiences, honestly and without fear. Because it’s not something women should be ashamed of and it’s not something that they should have to hide.
I have friends who’ve had abortions. I have friends who have mothers who had abortions. I’m sure I’ve probably met some grandmothers who’ve had one. Because here’s the thing: Women – lots of women -have abortions.
In Australia, almost half of all pregnancies are accidental. A lot of those result in babies, but some of them end with an abortion. There aren’t any reliable national data sets on abortion so we don’t know for sure just how many.
In the United States, where there’s an ongoing legislative agenda to limit women’s access to abortion and treat them as children who can’t make decisions about their own bodies, an estimated third of all women will have an abortion.
One in three.
The Supreme Court brief has this to say:
“Because of the continuing, sometimes violent debate over abortion, many bear the stories of their abortions in silence. These women are our loved ones, our mothers, our daughters, our co-workers, our neighbors and our friends from all walks of life.”
They are people like actress Amy Brenneman, who had an abortion as a 21-year-old college student, and refuses to feel bad about it.
“Amy felt great relief after it was over. She remembers turning on the television and finding a group of politicians – all men – debating whether women should have the right to an abortion. How strange, she thought, that they could speak so confidently without addressing the enormous impact of an unwanted pregnancy on a woman,” the brief says.
Great relief.
These are not words we hear often enough in this discussion. Women are made to feel as though sorrow, fear and regret are the emotions we should associate with an abortion.
Women hold their own stories close, whispering them if recounting them at all. Afraid of judgement and condemnation. Because this debate is one of hectoring and moralising.
It might not seem like a big step, but the stories in that Supreme Court brief – amplified and reported far and wide because of the the words of a famous actress – are powerful and honest portraits of how a lot of women really feel about abortion.
That it is an important and necessary right, enabling to own their reproductive health and control their own lives.
The women who feature in the brief have careers, families, and well-rounded lives. They are brave to insert themselves into this debate because it is an ugly one.
But every woman who raises her hand and says “that was me, and it was the right decision” is helping to change the debate.
It’s 2016. Abortion should be safe, legal and available to all women who want one. And no one should feel ashamed to say they made that choice.
Top Comments
To reduce the number of abortions there needs to be lots of sex ed, lots of freely available contraceptives, lots of free medical care and welfare for mums caring for children (especially kids with disabilities), lots of support for adoptions, and no rapes or incest. The U.S. moral minority could and should tackle these problems before moving onto abortions because otherwise they just look like hypocrites.
In Australia, where we seem to accept that many, if not most, citizens are not religious, it is ridiculous to give religous reasons to justify anti-abortion legislation.
in the us it is not the moral minority...sadly they are everywhere her. granted some states are worse than others here but when you consider 75% of the entire us population identifies as Christian it is a minefield of morals to navigate. just look at the current political race and see how many support the Republicans who are actively seeking to define planned parenthood.
I am currently living in a state of the us that has so many loophole a woman has to jump through to get an abortion. Women here must endure a scan, have counselling and sit through a mandatory waiting period...all in the hope that the woman will change her mind. Whilst I find these conditions rediculous I am constant reminded that I live in a state where the bible and god rules the thought processes an actions of some 85% of the state's population and with all this I cannot expect them to have reason le thought processes on the topic of abortion. As a woman of child bearing age it terrifies me that I may one day need an abortion and although I desperately want another child I would not proceed should there be any problems with the fetus. The ability for a woman to have control over her body in this country is slowly being eroded by those who believe that their beliefs are the ones everyone should live by. they forcibly argue right to life but they do not support those who cannot support a child, victims of rape, those with disabilities once they have entered the world. it is unlikely australia will ever go down this path because government is not inextricably linked with religion and it is issues like these that remind me that australia is one of the easiest places to live in the world, allowing reasonable people to make decisions that work for them.