Twitter User’s Idea To Stop Abortion Makes An Important Argument For ‘No Uterus, No Opinion’
One of men’s favourite pastimes is telling women what to do. They’ll claim that is impossible to know what women want. And then go on to impose their own rules and regulations on us. Right from telling us how we should dress, sit, eat, and talk right up to what we do with our bodies. Not like they know much about our bodies, unless they’ve studied them academically and practice on them professionally. But still they’d like to be pulling the strings when laws are being made that impact women’s reproductive rights. They want to tell women, either by court rulings or societal shaming, that abortion is wrong. If need be, they’ll add layers of criminal and. religious persecution to it, by deeming it as murder or an act against God. Funnily but not surprisingly enough, when the tables are turned, they don’t want to give a second thought to a procedure like vasectomy that makes things easier for both men and women.
Abortion is what I like to call a “Hawwww” word Try using it in a desi household and you’ll see what I mean when the reaction is “Hawwwww, how could you even say such a thing!?” But surprisingly, it’s a touchy topic across the globe because major religions deem it to be a sin and equate it with murder. The worse thing is that the onus, responsibility and even the shame, all of it is aimed at the woman. Because she got pregnant. Because she was sleeping around. Because she should’ve been more careful. The man on the other hand, who is perhaps more responsible for the pregnancy than the woman, gets none of that. He only asserts his ‘manufacturing rights’ when he really wants to have the child. And in such a situation, if the woman were to opt for terminating the pregnancy, it suddenly becomes a matter of “Oh but doesn’t the father have any rights?”
The point being, a woman is the one who’s life changes forever when she gets pregnant. From physiological changes to a lifelong commitment to raising a child, all falls primarily to the mother. And mind you, it is a huge one. So to have men regulate a woman’s body and decree what she can and cannot do feels like an interference with her basic rights.
Also Read: Teejay Sidhu Claps Back At Pregnancy Weight Shaming, Says There Is No Ideal Weight As Long As You Are Happy. Moms-To-Be Need To Hear This
To prove this very point, and make an argument in favour of allowing women to decide what happens to their bodies, Twitter user @stephenszczerba proposed a hypothetical scenario. What would happen if instead of women being told what to do with their bodies to avoid the scenario of an abortion, men were told to get vasectomies. A vasectomy, according to Wikipedia, “is a surgical procedure for male sterilization or permanent contraception. During the procedure, the male vasa deferentia are cut and tied or sealed so as to prevent sperm from entering into the urethra and thereby prevent fertilization of a female through sexual intercourse.”
Isn’t it awesome? Imagine all the pleasure without worrying about an unplanned pregnancy! You know the best part? A vasectomy is reversible. Which means when the man is ready to have a child, he can reverse the procedure and get to it like nothing happened. Would that be something men would consider? Would they be okay if the Supreme Court tomorrow mandated that all men get vasectomies until they were stable enough to have kids?
https://twitter.com/stephenszczerba/status/1317843914515222529?s=20
I can only imagine the hue and cry that men would raise if this were the case! And that’s precisely why, as Rachel Green had said, the norm should be “No uterus? No opinion!”
In fact, if you need more convincing, check this thread out that explains exactly why men are more responsible for pregnancies than women are. And therefore, imposing all the regulations on women is highly unfair.
I’m a mother of six, and a Mormon. I have a good understanding of arguments surrounding abortion, religious and otherwise. I've been listening to men grandstand about women's reproductive rights, and I'm convinced men actually have zero interest in stopping abortion. Here's why…
— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom) September 13, 2018
But ALL unwanted pregnancies are caused by the irresponsible ejaculations of men. Period. Don’t believe me? Let me walk you through it. Let’s start with this: women can only get pregnant about 2 days each month. And that’s for a limited number of years.
— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom) September 13, 2018
And though their sperm gets crappier as they age, men can cause unwanted pregnancies from puberty till death. So just starting with basic biology + the calendar it’s easy to see men are the issue here.
— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom) September 13, 2018
… because of the side effects. And the list of side effects was about 1/3 as long as the known side effects for women's oral contraception. https://t.co/SA9oZQD6i8
— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom) September 13, 2018
In fact there are many people trying to make it more expensive by fighting to make sure insurance companies refuse to cover it. Oral contraceptives for women can’t be acquired easily, or at the last minute. And they don't work instantly.
— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom) September 13, 2018
Oh. I remember. Men _don’t_ love condoms. In fact, men frequently pressure women to have sex without a condom. And it’s not unheard of for men to remove the condom during sex, without the women’s permission or knowledge. (Pro-tip: That's assault.) https://t.co/c2HHjkbx6G
— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom) September 13, 2018
So… there are men willing to risk getting a woman pregnant — which means literally risking her life, her health, her social status, her relationships, and her career, so that they can experience a few minutes of _slightly_ more pleasure? Is that for real? Yes. Yes it is.
— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom) September 13, 2018
But did you further know that men CAN get a woman pregnant without HER feeling any pleasure at all? In fact, it’s totally possible for a man to impregnate a woman even while causing her excruciating pain, trauma or horror.
— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom) September 13, 2018
No matter how many orgasms she has, they won’t make her pregnant. Pregnancies can only happen when men have an orgasm. Unwanted pregnancies can only happen when men orgasm irresponsibly.
— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom) September 13, 2018
Women enjoying sex does not equal unwanted pregnancy and abortion. Men enjoying sex and having irresponsible ejaculations is what causes unwanted pregnancies and abortion.
— Gabrielle Blair (@designmom) September 13, 2018
(It’s a long thread, and there’s a lot more tweets. So take your time and read it all!)
Even now as you read this, the United States of America is teetering on the edge of a possible overturning of the Roe v. Wade judgement. The landmark US Supreme Court in 1973 legalised abortion in the country. However, with the passing of Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and the almost certain appointment of President Donald Trump’s conservative nominee Amy Coney Barrett to fill in Ginsberg’s seat, there is widespread belief that Roe v. Wade might be overturned.
What happens when abortions become illegal. The obvious repercussions of carrying the pregnancy to term aside, there’s a certain inequality when it comes to access to abortion. Illegal doesn’t mean the practice stops completely, But just as smuggling, prostitution, marijuana consumption or alcohol consumption in prohibition states, abortion too becomes an unsafe practice with huge risk to the health and well-being of the women.
Moral of the hypothetical story: No uterus, no opinion.
