Education as the way to reduce abortion stigma!
The first time I asked my mom about what abortion is, she only said “Husshhh, don’t you ever think of that. It’s a murder” and left me with no answer. As long as I can remember, I got most information about abortion only from a local newspaper. Abortion was always portrayed as a cruel act and women who had abortions got labelled as a ‘naughty girl’ who has sex before marriage. Media reported abortion as painful, frightening, followed by heavy bleeding eventually leading to death. All information that I found led me to one conclusion, abortion is wrong.
We often receive information, which has never been questioned or authenticated. We do not realize that the things we believe, as a truth can also be a myth. Myths exist in many aspects of human life, including abortion. Here are some frequently heard abortion related myths:
- Abortion is a murder:
Only a person can be murdered. Therefore, abortion is not a murder unless one considers the foetus to be a person. The word “person” does not include the unborn, and a foetus does not have equal status with the mother until the point of viability, or when the foetus can exist outside of the mother’s womb[1]. The term “abortion” refers to the termination of pregnancy from whatever cause before the foetus is capable of extra uterine life. “Spontaneous abortion” refers to those terminated pregnancies that occur without deliberate measures, whereas “induced abortion” refers to termination of pregnancy through a deliberate intervention intended to end the pregnancy.” (WHO, 1994) YES, the definition of human life is still being debated, but in arguing for right to life, the anti choice disregard a women’s right to live; they only talk about the foetus.
- You will never get any chance to be pregnant again after undergoing an abortion
This is only a myth. There exists enough evidence to suggest that women who had abortion still have children later. Safe, uncomplicated abortion does not affect a woman’s ability to have children in the future.
- Abortion is painful and lead to death
Unsafe abortion is painful and stressful, while safe abortion is not. A woman undergoing safe abortion procedure gets proper counselling and post abortion care. Data suggests that number of women dying while giving birth is much higher than women undergoing safe abortion.
- Abortion is very expensive
In countries where access to abortion is restricted, seeking abortion through private clinics and backdoor abortion services can be very expensive. The fact is you can DIY Abortion with misoprostol and mifepristone pills, which when provided with adequate knowledge and support is simple and cheap. There are many hotlines that provide information related to unwanted pregnancy and information on medical abortion. Information on these hotlines is available on ASAP website.
- You are worthless
Nobody in this world has right to say that you are worthless. Having an abortion doesn’t make you less of a woman. You will feel worthless and guilty in absence of proper support and information. Women need to know there is nothing wrong in opting for an abortion and that they are not alone.
I believe that reducing abortion stigma can be done by increasing access to abortion related information and undoing the myths surrounding it and young people can play a very important role here. Why them? Because young people is the biggest population in the world! Therefore, educating young people is educating the next generation. We need to clarify the myths about abortion, because it doesn’t make the number of abortion lower. If young people have access to information, they can decide what is good for them.
