Vote No in government's anti-choice referendum As we face into
campaigning against yet another abortion referendum we are taking this
opportunity to detail why we this is such an important issue for us.
Anarchism is all about the freedom to choose to make decisions that
directly effect us. For women, this includes the decision whether or not
to become pregnant, whether or not to remain pregnant, whether or not to
have children. It is possible to be an anarchist and to have a moral
objection to abortion. It is not possible to be an anarchist and not
support the right to choose. For if the right to choose does not rest
solely with pregnant women, where does it lie; with the state, with
lawyers and the courts, with police? The logic of the anti-choice
position is that women are coerced into continuing with unwanted
pregnancies. To anarchists this is unacceptable. Women consider many
different issues when they make the decision to have an abortion. They
consider the views of their partner, parents and of the society they live
in. They consider the effect it will have on their career or studies.
They think about whether they are ready for motherhood. They look at the
relationship they are in. They examine their financial situation. The
decision is complex and not an easy one. The best person, indeed the only
person, with the right to make that decision, is the woman who is going
to have to live with its consequences. So for us, the right to abortion
is a basic human right. For many women abortion isn't a choice, rather it
is the only option in their circumstances. The right to choose should
also include the right to choose to become a mother. While we fight for
abortion rights
http://struggle.ws/abortion_wsm.html
on one hand, we also fight for the removal of stigma and economic barriers, which prevent some women from carrying through a pregnancy, which they would like to continue with. Our fight for abortion rights therefore is also part of a wider struggle to re-define what sort of lives women http://struggle.ws/women_wsm.html are able to lead. It is just as much part of a struggle for a society that supports parents in their decision to have children. In defending and defining the right to choose in the broadest way possible, we are defending the right to make choices about how to live our lives. In doing this we are setting the agenda for a future society. Aileen O'Carroll
