I was watching my favourite YouTube series called Middle Ground.
The series takes six people who have opposite views on the same topic, asks them the same questions about the topic and then later opens the floor for engagement.
This episode’s theme was Pro-Life vs Pro-Choice.
The pro-life movement started in the late 1960s in the United States of America and is against the legalisation of abortions.
The pro-choice movement started shortly after to oppose restrictions on abortions.
The pro-life side of the argument, which is made up mostly of religious people, believes the termination of a pregnancy is the murder of an unborn child and as such, is wrong and should not be done.
The pro-choice side believes pregnant women should have the right to choose whether they terminate or not.
I immediately knew I was pro-choice.
In South Africa, the Choice of Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996 makes terminations on request legal until 12 weeks of pregnancy.
From 13 to 20 weeks, a termination may be performed if, after consultation with a medical practitioner, the pregnancy might physically or mentally injure the pregnant woman, if the foetus will suffer a mental or physical abnormality, or if the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest.
The Act continues to say a surgical termination may be performed by a medical practitioner after 20 weeks if they are of the opinion the continued pregnancy will result in the endangerment of the pregnant woman’s life, an abnormality in or injury to the foetus.
There are many reasons why women terminate pregnancies.
These include – but are not limited to – not being ready to be a parent, cannot afford to raise a child, the pregnancy is a result of sexual violence, an unsupportive partner who is not willing to raise the child and health-related issues.
Whatever the reason, a pregnant woman has the constitutional right to make decisions concerning her reproductive health – which includes termination.
Preventing women from getting safe abortions does not stop abortions from being needed or performed.
Instead, it endangers the lives of pregnant women who end up finding themselves having unsafe “backstreet” abortions.
It disrespects their rights to control their own bodies and may result in the birth of babies who might grow up in dire poverty or are abandoned in dustbins.
I am pro-choice because I believe if a woman wants to give birth to a child to raise or give up for adoption, she should be able to, and if she wants to terminate her pregnancy she should be able to safely do so.
Her body, her choice.
