OBFUSCATORY “SAFE ABORTION” DISCOURSE

with Alexious Kamangila.

Malawi has been through an active as well as passive debate on whether abortions should be legalized or not. Seemingly the Pregnancy Termination Bill being handled as a “Top State Secrecy” matter, aims to legalize restrictive abortions which would be a ratification of the protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women. The Anti-Abortion camp argues that Life begins at conception making extraction of a foetus equal to killing a human being. Such understanding categorizes abortion in the same realm as taking away the life of a human being. Abortion defies the universally accepted concept of the sanctity of life, that no one should never be allowed to take it away as it’s sacred. No civilized nation should legalize the act of taking away life intentionally or harming it without punishment. It is from this background of an existing Bill that this article advances the Anti-Abortion agenda by discussing the arguments of Abortion proponents. Obfuscator

The pro-abortion camp always refer to the act of legalizing the extracting of the foetus from the womb as the path towards having safe abortions. What is essential to note here, is that abortion is a medical procedure, and just as any medical procedure has room for error and complications, abortion is no exception. An abortion can result in many medical complications such as; ectopic pregnancies doubles, miscarriage probability increment and pelvic inflammatory defamation, just to mention a few. Now the argument here is not to say because a medical procedure may lead to complications then you should not venture into it. Not at all. Rather it is to denounce the pro-abortionists who present abortion as an all rosy option. Such misleading information is actually unacceptable.

Strong arguments are raised in support for abortion in cases where a woman is pregnant as a result of a criminal offence such as rape or incest. In the instance of rape and incest, medical care and psychological support can ensure that a woman recovers from the trauma and learns to cherish the pregnancy. For all resentment, why pour the vengeance on the innocent unborn baby instead of punishing the criminal. This is a clear misdirection of vengeance and a clear sign of disgruntled ignorant solution. In any case, where the mother can not live to see the baby, the state has an obligation to create institutions not only support the pregnancy but most of all to take the baby from the mother who does not want it or can’t stand it (cater for medical expenses). The thing about arguing for outright abortion in instances of rape or incest is that it is blind intentionally I suppose, to the fact that going through an abortion is also traumatic. Now for someone who has gone through the trauma of such heinous experience, for instance of rape, to go through another traumatic experience is atrocious. Again what does it mean to say abortion should be legalized so that when people get pregnant from rape or incest, they should not be forced to keep the baby? Are we saying the solution to such horrendous acts is to allow the victim to abort? Seriously, the Pro-abortion movement needs to find better reasons to enhance their agenda.

The issue that is at the centre of human rights advocacy for abortion, is the principal of human autonomy upheld in Roe v Wade (A case that legalized abortion in USA). This prophesizes that a woman, as a human being should be allowed to make decisions independently more especially about her body/health. After all the baby is a parasite and she is hosting it as such if it is an inconvenience whether in health, academic, career and what have you, then as an autonomous being a woman should be allowed to abort. What is interesting is that this argument is made as if autonomy is absolute without responsibilities or consequences. It is a crime to make attempts to take one’s life despite one’s autonomy. The Penal Code of all civilized nations penalizes a human being who attempts to take one’s life. This stems from the universally accepted norm that life is sacred that no one should be allowed to take it away, not even one’s own life. Now, if such is the case, why should the pregnancy be treated with an extreme autonomy without responsibilities? Just as an attempted suicide is a crime, so should abortion.

A further analysis of Roe v Wade would reveal the hypocrisy surrounding the freedom to terminate pregnancy.  In Roe v. Wade the Court said that a fetus is not a person but "potential life," and thus does not have constitutional rights of its own.

The Court also set up a framework in which the woman's right to abortion and the state's right to protect potential life shift: during the first trimester of pregnancy, a woman's privacy right is strongest and the state may not regulate abortion for any reason; during the second trimester, the state may regulate abortion only to protect the health of the woman; during the third trimester, the state may regulate or prohibit abortion to promote its interest in the potential life of the foetus, except where abortion is necessary to preserve the woman's life or health. The question is, why should a state have interest in a potential life where such remains a private affair? If a foetus is not a life to be protected just a potential life, then the state should continue letting private affairs be private. The potential life as described in Roe v Wade arises throughout the pregnancy hence State should have interest from the time fertilization happens to delivery, rather than shift allegiances.
Usually, those that fight for the legalization of abortion argue that abortion should be legalized because where the pregnancy is a threat to the mother, then the mother should be saved. Medical practice does not work substitution method or prioritizes one life over the other even where the other life is not complete (foetus). Medical practitioners in instance of pregnancy complications, work or should work towards saving the life of both the mother and the unborn child. Don’t medical practitioners already take the safest path in times where mother’s life is at stake and the survival of the unborn is of least probability if not impossible?  Finally, the statistics of pregnancy termination (done or supposed to have been done) as a result of medical complications is never brought out to light or discussed. Such tells a story.

The main issue surrounding abortion, which is rarely discussed, is the denial of responsibility. Every action has a reaction and sexual intercourse among other things results in pregnancy. Sexual Intercourse is a responsibility but most times, it is treated as a mere source of pleasure to the extent that even what results in it is nothing but an inconvenience. It is essential that all ages, with emphasis on young people, should be acquainted with the value of life and resistance to acts leading to unwanted pregnancies. Of importance is the empowerment of the girl child who when empowered cannot be [easily] victimized to rape or incest. This also goes together in State combating crime such as rape and defilement as well as bad cultural practices. The Church on the other hand, needs to stop its hypocrisy and slumbering. It is hypocritical for the Church to come-out and condemn abortion just because the issue is being considered for legalization, when everyday Pharmacies are selling thousands of pills to inhibit zygote’s growth or Banja La Mtsogolo clinics are terminating pregnancies. The danger in this Church’s slumber lies in that the rich and well to do get the services at a cost as they can afford, while the poor are condemned to reprimands of the law. This is unacceptable. Churches should be defenders of the poor not perpetrators of unjust treatment. In another script, this sounds/looks like the Church would rather have abortions take place in secrecy and private and enjoyed only by the haves than all citizens in an organized and recognized systems/platforms.

Abortion is the act of ending the development of a human being inhibiting that progress to prevent the foetus from becoming a full and autonomous human being. To argue for abortion on the substantive point of promoting the autonomy of a human being, is clearly Ironic. While a woman has rights, when exercising such rights, she should not be allowed to exercise them at the expense of a foetus. Whereas the life of the woman matters, the survival and full development of a foetus matters too just like #BlackLivesMatter. Fighting against the law to legalize abortion is very recommendable, but the Church in Malawi has to do more as far as saving the unborn is concerned. The slumbering efforts taken to fight abortions perpetrates injustice against the women living in poverty as it sentence them to unsafe abortions. Efforts need to go beyond fighting legalizing abortion to fighting premarital sex, unwanted pregnancies and abortions (secret) where one gets pregnant. Of great importance is fighting stigma against girls or women who get pregnant in school or outside wedlock. Such is as powerful as eliminating secret hot-spots for pregnancy terminations.  There is no Cause worthy standing for more than the Pro-Life Movement whether against Death Penalty or Abortion, as the sanctity of life needs no further decoration for approval. Abortion is never Safe, whether medically, morally, spiritually or in whatever context as such Safe Abortion campaigns have no nod in human race.

By Alexious Kamangila; Private Legal Practitioner (Naphambo&Co.), Feminist.