Abortion: The Real Issue

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.