... and ain't i a woman?: Abortion: as early as possible, as late as necessary
An international conference on abortion, "Abortion in Focus", to be held at Coolum on Queensland's Sunshine Coast in November, will offer information on abortion access and services around the world.
Although the $450 registration fee puts it out of reach for most activists, those who manage to attend can look forward to information on medical, legal, political and administrative aspects of abortion provision internationally.
Attempts by anti-choice campaigners to have the federal government refuse a visa to one of the speakers highlight the continuing need for pro-choice activism. The US-based Dr George Tiller is to speak about his experiences performing late-term abortions. The so-called "right-to-life" campaigners appealed for the visa ban on the basis that he would be advocating something that is illegal in Queensland.
While the visa wasn't refused, this threat to free association and free speech does indicate the precarious nature of women's access to abortion and information about it. As long as abortion remains on the criminal code in most states, questions on the legality of the procedure can be used in this way.
This case has also put the spotlight on a matter often contentious within the pro-choice camp — is there a point in time beyond which abortions should not be performed?
There are many who identify as pro-choice but are opposed to late-term abortion for a range of reasons. When examined, however, none of these reasons should override the basic right of a woman to control her own fertility. The fact that the acceptable cut-off points put forward vary illustrates the arbitrary nature of the arguments.
One main argument against late-term abortions focuses on foetal personhood, assumed to be present because of potential "viability".
"If the foetus were born at this time [variously 24 weeks, 22 weeks or some other cut-off, depending on the technological facilities of neonatal intensive care units or other services available]", the argument goes, "we would do all we could to enable it to survive, and it would potentially live: so there is no moral difference between it and a baby born at term".
This argument is given legal stature by the requirement to fill in a death certificate for any foetus which dies (including if aborted) 20 weeks or later into the pregnancy.
However, this argument obscures the central role of the woman as decision-maker, the woman whose pregnant body is in question. Regardless of the age of the foetus, it is completely dependent on the woman, and has no consciousness and no interests or rights separate from those of the woman. Potential it may have, but that can only be conditional on the needs, interests and decisions of the woman.
Arguments against late-term abortions concede ground to the anti-choice lobby by implying that the difference between a foetus and a baby is viability. Rather, the difference between a foetus and a baby is that one is utterly dependent on the woman, while the other is a part of society.
To deny this difference is to undermine the case for women's right to choose abortion at all.
Another argument raised against the provision of late-term abortions is that they are less safe than earlier ones. It's true that the safety of pregnancy termination declines with increasing pregnancy duration. Even so, late term abortion is not statistically less safe than carrying a pregnancy to full term.
The conclusion to draw is that we need to eliminate the barriers to women seeking abortion, so that the procedures can be carried out as early as possible. However, if women are fully informed of the risks, abortion should be available as late in the pregnancy as necessary.
Consistent defence of the right of women to control our fertility, our own lives, requires that we take this position. Lack of availability of late-term procedures means that women still continue to be forced to bear unwanted children.
The pro-choice movement should reaffirm our support for the right of any pregnant woman to choose abortion and strive for services to be provided as early as possible, and as late as necessary.
By Kamala Emanuel