abortions has dramatically increased. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in the US, gun violence has also increased, the education and foster-care systems have not been reformed, nor has public healthcare been introduced. So, while more children are being born, being put up for adoption, abandoned by families who do not have the financial stability to give a child the quality of life they need and deserve, the ownership once again falls upon the woman to not get pregnant. As domestic violence and instances of rape and sexual assault are on the rise, these circumstances become increasingly difficult. In some states, there is a monetary reward for people who report women attempting to terminate pregnancies, even if they are suffering from abuse and/or it is the abuser doing the reporting. This system rewards the abuser and punishes the victim for becoming pregnant. While these are extreme cases, the tightening abortion laws in the US are reflective of the experience of many women around the world, like in Peru, where reproductive and women’s rights as a whole are extremely neglected. Globally, a woman’s right to choose and right to protect herself is being jeopardised. So, what can be done to support women in this time? Where are our solutions? Following the rebuke of abortion, the number of vasectomies have gone up. Having a vasectomy is much less
complicated than tying fallopian tubes, and hardly any side effects occur compared to hormonal birth controls often prescribed to women. They are also reversible, hence are an entirely viable option for families who are not looking to start a family at all or right away, but are not comfortable with hormonal birth control as contraception. Vasectomies allow reproductive labour to be shared between both partners, instead of lying solely on the women’s shoulders. On a more public level, in the US, large corporations such as Jeffries, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan fund a woman’s journey to a state where abortion is legal, should this be necessary. This once again gives women agency and freedom over their reproductive health. Sara Nam, a public health consultant and reproductive rights activist explained that ‘many people equate the term ‘rights’ with the word ‘to choose’. Being denied an abortion is taking away one’s right to healthcare. It takes away one’s choice. Everyone has a right to healthcare. Abortion is healthcare. Only when your right and choice is revoked, does abortion become criminalized. It’s worth it to consider that criminalizing something does not make it disappear either. Hence, it is important to escape our echo chambers, to support women by reading and critically engaging with articles like these, so we can share their political and reproductive burdens, both globally and locally, and reinstall their right to choice, in whatever circumstance or capacity. 11 SECONDS MAGAZINE |25
