Given all of the extremely
restrictive anti-abortion laws that have been recently instituted in the United
States, and the talk by many who either hope or fear that the same thing is
likely to happen shortly in Canada, it is not surprising that many people have
lost track of the real issue we should be discussing.
People are talking and
tweeting about when life starts; if “heartbeat laws” are too restrictive; whether there should be exceptions in cases of rape and incest, or only when
the mother’s life is in danger.
I even got involved in
some of these arguments, particularly the ones relating to when life begins.
But I stopped to think, and realized something: it doesn’t matter. All of these
issues are utterly irrelevant.
If I am in dire need
of a kidney transplant to keep me alive, and you are a perfect match, that does
not give me the right to take your spare kidney without your permission. Not
because I do not have the right to life, but because you have the right to
control your own body.
Even after death you
can choose whether or not your organs can be transferred to someone else. You
can, if you choose, be buried with everything intact, even though you no longer
have any use for it. It is your body, your choice.
And this is why it
does not matter if life begins at conception. As a human being, I have the
right to decide whether or not I choose to use my womb, my body, to nurture a
fetus for nine months. If I do, fine. If I do not, that should be a medical
decision between me and my doctor, and not the business of anyone else. No
excuses are required.
Anyone who says
otherwise, who passes a law making abortion illegal, is not being “pro-life”.
They are saying that they do not consider women to be human beings with basic
human rights.
