The Tribune

By Alicia Wallace

LAST Friday, in a 6-3 majority vote, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling that a woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion was protected by the constitution. The ruling struck down state-level laws that made abortion illegal. This meant abortion was legal up to 28 weeks which was when a fetus was considered viable outside of the womb. This was later changed to 23 to 24 weeks.

Pregnancy is calculated from the date of the last period, not the time of fertilisation of the egg. This means people are often at least once into pregnancy when they find out they are pregnant — after missing a period. It could be later if there is bleeding or the person is not tracking their periods. There have been many challenges to the cut-off time for abortions since Roe v Wade. There have been threats to overturn it and it has been a voting issue, but never did it have such a strong possibility as with the current conservative majority in the Supreme Court.

The dissenting Justices, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan wrote: “With sorrow — for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection — we dissent.” This quote has been shared, over and over again, to remind people that three justices voted against the overturning of Roe v Wade, as an echo of sorrow and as a clear reminder that a constitutional right is now being denied in the US.

The ruling has not shocked many people. In fact, people have been discussing and organising for at least the past six months with the knowledge that this would likely happen. Even with that knowledge, there is sadness, disappointment and rage. There are people wringing their hands, there are people making donations to organisations dedicated to providing healthcare and upholding the rights of women, there are people announcing they will help anyone who needs an abortion by providing rides, housing, meals and a number of other resources and services, and there are people working to inspire and encourage people to do more than cry, yell, or angrily post on social media.

Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinta Arden said: “Here in New Zealand we recently legislated to decriminalise abortion and treat it as a health rather than criminal issue. That change was grounded in the fundamental belief that it’s a [woman’s] right to choose.”

She added: “People are absolutely entitled to have deeply held convictions on this issue. But those personal beliefs should never rob another from making their own decisions.”

The latter part of Arden’s statement is particularly important, especially as we discuss the issues of opinion, beliefs and legality. All over the world, people want laws to reflect their own beliefs. They do not want people to access resources or services they consider “wrong”, or even unnecessary. They are unconcerned about human rights. Their priority is their belief system. There are beliefs and there are truths. That is a woman’s right to choose and that women must have bodily autonomy is a fundamental truth. That access to healthcare is a fundamental right is a fundamental truth. It must also be understood abortion is healthcare.

This discussion feels old, repetitious and as though it should not be necessary at this point. It should be a given that women have the right to choose, and no law should restrict women’s access to healthcare. Denying constitutional protection and legislating against access to healthcare is violence. It increases unsafe abortions and can result in death. We should be beyond this point, and the US at least on the basis of Roe, was for almost half of a century.

California congressman Eric Swalwell tweeted: “Don’t forget to turn your clocks back 50 years tonight.” It is the kind of humour that is born out of rage or disappointment. Its suggestion is as true as the statement is absurd.

At the Glastonbury Festival, Megan Thee Stallion used her performance to send a message. She said Texas, her home state, was embarrassing her. She went on to say: “I wanna have it on record that the hot boys and hot girls do not support this [expletive].” She calls her fans “hotties,” so she was galvanising her base. She then led the crowd in chanting, “My body, my [expletive] choice!” Other performers at the festival made similar statements and engaged the crowd.

Lizzo tweeted and posted on Instagram that: “The most important thing is action and loud voices.” She added that Planned Parenthood and National Network of Abortion Funds need funding to continue providing services to those harmed by the ban. She pledged $500,000 from her Special tour to those organisations. Lizzo has long been a prominent voice on women’s bodies and what we are and are not allowed to do with them, and her donation is both a demonstration of her commitment and a call to others in similar positions to dig into their wallets and help in a tangible way.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama said she was heartbroken by the ruling. She referred to deaths due to unsafe abortions, the government denying women control of their reproduction and women being forced to give birth and then being abandoned.

“The more we allow pessimism to push us further into helplessness, the less we will be empowered to help create the kind of country we want to live in,” said Mrs Obama.

The lack of paid family leave, little attention to the baby formula shortage and stagnant minimum wage make it obvious that anti-abortion people are not interested in anyone’s lives. They are interested in controlling women’s and trans people’s bodies. They are obsessed with the idea of “consequences” for women’s sexuality and assigning blame for the lack of comprehensive sexuality education, limited access to contraception and failure to end sexual violence to the people with the burden of unwanted pregnancies. They are not content to choose for themselves, instead seeking to dominate and control people in situations of vulnerability. We, unfortunately, are not at all better off in the Caribbean.

According to the 2018 report by the Guttmacher Institute, in Latin America and the Caribbean, fewer than three percent of women lived in countries where abortion was legal under all circumstances. From 2010 to 2014, abortion rates were 33 per 1,000 women in the Caribbean, and only 25 percent of abortions in Latin America and the Caribbean were safe.

There are six classifications of countries and their abortion laws. These classifications are prohibited altogether, to save the life of woman, to save the life of woman or preserve physical health, to save life or woman or preserve physical or mental health, to save life or woman or preserve physical or mental health or socio-economic reasons, and without restrictions. The Bahamas is in the third classification, allowing abortions to preserve the life or health of a woman.

Some countries also allow abortion in cases of rape, incest, fetal anomaly, and/or parental authorisation. Guyana and Barbados have the most progressive laws on abortion in the Caribbean, but access issues remain. For example, people in rural areas have difficulty getting to the few healthcare institutions that provide this service.

We still have a long way to go. We have countries to study, laws to reform, minds to change and access to prioritise. We also have to recognise that changing the minds of anti-abortion people is not necessary. They can believe whatever they want. Those beliefs must not control other people. Their beliefs are theirs to have and to honour. For the rest of us, there is the truth: Women are full human beings with human rights that include the right to life, liberty and security of person. Women have the right to choose. The law needs to catch up.