McGill Tribune

There is something enormously wrong with older men having the power when it comes to state laws regarding abortion. This idea is perfectly clear considering the recent bill passed by the North Dakota House of Representatives.

One of the most disgusting aspects of this story is that while abortion was legal at the one clinic that exists in North Dakota, laws were already in place compelling doctors to show pregnant women ultrasound images of their fetus with the goal of personalizing what the abortion was terminating. This behaviour is repulsively inappropriate, as the circumstances of the pregnancy could have been traumatizing and this action could be augmenting that terror. Furthermore, doctors were required to tell these women that they would be ending the life of an unborn child, who is a unique individual. This is shocking. Women should be respected and helped with whatever choice they make regarding their body, and their life, and absolutely no one should make them feel otherwise.

The issue of abortion has several different facets: women’s rights and men’s position with regards to this, religious opinions, and ethical approaches. Inquiries into what it means to be a conscious human being or how to define when life begins should be explored, but these are extensive, subjective philosophical debates. I will not touch on the religious issues; we live in diverse countries and each person should be entitled to their own beliefs, but those beliefs should not necessarily extend beyond their religious communities and affect everyone else. Ultimately, I think the importance of women’s views regarding a predominantly females issue surpasses the religious and ethical concerns. Women should be free to choose what to do with their own body and life; it is illogical and wrong to let men decide.

Given that men seem to dominate most political positions of power, there is the obvious problem of whether the position of a pregnant 16-year-old can be understood by them. This young girl has her whole life ahead of her, and it would not be an easy choice to abort a baby, but it is reassuring to know the choice exists. Children born when they are unwanted are unlikely to live successful, happy lives. As the book Freakonomics proved, there is a link between legalizing abortion and a drop in crime in the United States. This is because fewer children were born into unpleasant environments and thus more children grew up with proper care and nurturing.

You try being pregnant, Mr. 55-year-old-state-representative, at the age of 16, losing your life as you know it, and consequently being forced to spend a vital time of your life looking after a kid you never wanted, not to mention what your family thinks, or what this would mean for the future of that kid. The effects on the young mother and her child are detrimental, and this is the most important thing to reflect on. I hope other states do not follow North Dakota’s move, because that would be a sad step backwards for American society.

Chloe Turner-Bloom is a U2 philosophy and psychology student, and can be reached at [email protected].