So
Jeremy Hunt is back in the news again. For those not in the know,
he's the UK's Health Minister. With his track record of success, we
can confidently predict the death of nearly every person in the UK by
2015. Which is one way to attempt to solve our unemployment figures,
I guess. Anyway, he's back in the news for wanting to reduce the time
available for abortions from 24
weeks to 12 weeks.
Now,
you know you've entered crazy land when even the tabloids don't
follow you, and they hate women. If
they're not slut-shaming, publishing nip-slips or vomiting in disgust
over a woman putting on a half pound (the
fat heaving bitch!)
they're betraying their own women journos. Anyone remember that woman
who women hated because she
was so beautiful -which was interesting because her
publisher took great delight in picking the worst photo they could
find of her before throwing her under the bus. Of course, most
are calling for the reduction of abortion time limits because of... I
dunno? Sluts? Misrepresenting scientific evidence? Whatever.
This
whole debate to me is, in a word, odd. Odder still that Jeremy, bless
his cotton socks, claims this 12 weeks is backed by scientific
evidence. Huh. You see, what made me write about this subject today
is that I remember a little while ago (okay, fine 4 years ago, but I
still remember it) our parliament was debating changing parts of the
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, and one part specifically
was the abortion time limit. Now the reason we have it currently set
at 24 weeks is based on survival rates. In a nutshell, babies born
before 24 weeks have such a small rate of survival as to be deemed
statistically insignificant. In May 2008, it was debated whether this
should be changed as since the Bill's original creation
back in 1990 infant survival rates before 24 weeks had increased. Now
here's the important point: yes, there was an increase, but once
again, a statistically insignificant one. Oh,
and deep joy, every tabloid focused on the word 'increase' rather
than the prerequisite 'insignificant.' So it strikes me, if back in
2008 we had many, many, MANY qualified medical professionals telling
MPs that survival rates were crap all before 24 weeks and that should
be the limit, did medical science explode forward since then? Have we
had an utter revolution of medicine that has completely passed me by?
Please tell me we invented super power serum. Ah, no. No real change.
So Jeremy Hunt is, once again, speaking out of his arse. It begs the
question: is he an idiot, or deliberately masquerading his personal
view as a 'scientific' one?
Look,
this is very simply about publicly stating an opinion on abortion. If
you want to, there are two questions to answer. First, determine if
you have a medical opinion or a personal one. So...
Are
you a medical professional?
If
yes, you are allowed have a medical opinion on abortion.
Congratulations! That view is enforced by peer-reviewed science, and
is subject to change according to improvements in technology,
treatment and medicine.
But
what if you don't have a medical qualification, but have a personal
view? Well, next question to ask yourself is...
Do
you (or have you ever had) a uterus?
If
yes, go nuts. Say what you want. I ain't stepping to that.
(Unless,
you know, you're trying to restrict other women's access to one
should they need it, like Nadine Dorries, you heartless shit of a
human being. I mean, have your own opinion, but have the right one.
Which is mine. Uh. Wait.)
If
you don't have a uterus, well congratulations fuckwit! You, along
with me, have no opinion! Nope! Not one! What you get is a
pre-approved one I have right there somewhere... where is it... ah,
here it is:
“In
my opinion a woman has the right to choose and have the ability to
receive an abortion in an appropriate medical facility when required
according to law.”
And.
That. Is. It. Basically, no uterus, no fucking opinion. I am aware
this actually renders this whole article moot according to my own
logic but some
people need to listen.
This simple rule keeps the J-Hunt away (unless he keeps a uterus in
his desk like Jack the bloody Ripper) and also handily keeps the
Catholic church at bay as well; which has shown time and time again
it has no
fucking business butting in on this topic. If you must have
an opinion, keep it the fuck to yourself. I ain't even capable of
getting an abortion, so where would I get off assuming I have the
right to tell women to only use their bodies as I command? With
no medical qualification?
Look,
I get that this is a hot button topic. At the end of the day I am not
going to discuss whether it's ending a life or not here; it's my
blog, and I'll cowardly duck out of subjects I don't think I could
adequately express myself on. I will say that no woman who ever opts
for an abortion is unaware of that debate. If you seriously think
many women enter in to this with a light heart, I'm sorry, but you
have to do some major re-evaluating of your life. And this 24 week
limit? It's not the end all – abortions can happen beyond that
limit if the continuation of the pregnancy holds serious risk to the
mother. And if you actually think that the death of both mother and
foetus is a better result than an abortion then... then there are no
words. No. I don't understand you. I don't want to.
I
wrote this article now because of a question I'm not getting an
answer to: Why is this shit still coming up? Seriously. It has been
nuts recently. This crap. Legitimate
rape bullshit. Women
called sluts for campaigning for birth control to be available on
insurance. It's... it's... are we getting worse? I know that
society is not a linear progression towards awesome but, wow, does it
seem like we're sliding back on women here. Since racism isn't cool
any more we switched to misogyny instead? Or are we noticing this
shit more when before we didn't question it? Are we seeing the last
members of a generation of men who believe they have the right to
dictate their beliefs to others?
For
the most part, I'm not massively worried about Hunt suddenly slashing
time limits. Davy Cameron doesn't agree with him, which is usually a
good indication of a Tory MP gone too crazy (or is Boris Johnson, or
both.) BUT. He
has voted to reduce the time limit to 20 weeks – once
again, I repeat, with no medical backing, so it's not a great
indication that it'll stick. I mean, sure, you may have your own
feelings about this topic, but it worries me when people decide that
their feelings have more weight than all the opinions of the people
in the British Medical Association, the British Association of
Perinatal Medicine, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive
Healthcare, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and finally the British Medical
Journal because
it seems to me that they'd know better.
Just
a hunch.
Now
excuse me. I've just read what I've written and I must go hide,
because quite frankly the anti-choice side terrifies me, and I fear for my
safety.
Laters!
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