Of course we should trust women to make decisions. Bodily autonomy, the freedom over our bodies and choices, is very important especially for women. But when it comes to allowing women to decide if another human being can live or not, the right to make such a choice has to be questioned.
Babies in the womb have their own blood supply which is often different from their mothers, their own organs, brain waves and unique genetic make-up.
During her time in the womb, a baby is dependent on her mother but that doesn’t mean she isn’t a person, or that she has no rights. The reason the Eighth Amendment exists today is because Irish people recognised unborn babies are people who deserve protection.
Many women who have had abortions say they felt they had no other choice. The stories from Women Hurt and similar groups reveal the regret many women have after their abortion. It’s clear that at the time when they were making the decision they didn’t have the support they needed to be able to continue with their pregnancy.
Hard cases such as rape, fatal foetal abnormality and teenage pregnancy are routinely used by campaigners calling for legalised abortion. They would like to think that these hard cases make up the majority of abortions. In actual fact these cases make up less than 1% of all abortions that take place. Most abortions take place for what are “socio-economic” reasons (because of social and economic factors).
The reality is every abortion on demand regime began as restrictive. What happened in England and Wales shows how a once restrictive law has led to widespread abortion. There have also been extreme cases of baby girls’ lives being ended as their parents wanted a boy. In 2012, The Daily Telegraph carried out an investigation into sex–selection abortions. Doctors at British clinics were secretly filmed agreeing to gender-based terminations.
