I am glad that people in New Brunswick are discussing the closure of the Morgantaler abortion clinic in Fredericton. We have been too comfortable for too long, with the Liberals and Conservatives in agreement that women seeking abortions must obtain 'permission' from not one, but two doctors, in order to receive a publicly funded abortion.
I would like to make a few comments on the issue, because I feel that not talking about abortions in New Brunswick is ultimately very harmful.
1. I know women who have had abortions. So do you. They made this difficult decision because they thought it was best for themselves, and did not want to subject their child-to-be to a life of poverty, uncertainty, dysfunction or misery. It is a choice that weighs on them, and women carry this psychological burden even when they know they made the right choice given their circumstances.
2. None of these women used an abortion as a 'convenient method of birth control'. Who would want their body being the site of such a power struggle, among their own emotions, and in the eyes of society?
3. We judge women much too harshly, given the hurdles that they have to overcome. Many men (and other women too) do not treat them with respect, and put them in situations where the only choice is between bad and worse. When a woman who has been mistreated much of her life becomes pregnant, with no support system, why do we blame her only, when her circumstances have created an endlessly complicated and heartbreaking situation?
4. Why are politicians in charge of the choices women make with their own bodies? Do men need permission to have vasectomies?
5. I have pro-life friends and I greatly respect their positions. It is sad that women feel they will not be supported during pregnancy and the post-birth period. But the sad reality is, many women are alone. So the choice to abort a pregnancy is one that must remain.
6. Judge not, lest ye be judged.
