Call for mobilization for the protection of the right to abortion at US embassy in Brussels 30 June at 5.30 pm
The organization Fédération des Centers pluralistes de Planning familial calls on Thursday 30 June at 5.30 pm to mobilize for the protection of the right to abortion, at the US embassy on Avenue des Arts, on the corner of Rue Guimard.
In a time when 9 minutes a woman dies ten consequences of an illegal[1] abortion, the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe vs Wade ruling will make the situation for women around the world even worse. This decision will ban a total of almost total in about 26 US states. Not only will this affect the United States, but it could also have a knock-on effect in countries that are resistant to sexual and reproductive rights.
Let’s go back more than forty years in terms of gender equality
Since the situation in the United States is a reflection of the right to abortion in the world, we urgently call on all Belgian and European political parties to consolidate the rights of women and pregnant women wishing to have an abortion in a law of consciousness. That is why we accept the proposal of the PS to protect the right to abortion by enshrining it in the Belgian Constitution. We can only support all measures that make fundamental rights possible.
We recall that free and unrestricted access to abortion is a matter of entry, social justice and equal opportunities: the State must in all circumstances create conditions for access to abortion and sexual health and for the development of everyone’s right to self-determination .
We also advocate an improvement of the conditions for effective access to abortion in Belgium. Today, more family planning centers may occur due to a shortage of doctors trained in this practice.
Nearly 500 Belgian women have to travel to the Netherlands every year for an abortion because they miss the legal term of 12 weeks[2] in Belgium and pay about a thousand euros for the trip and the operation. It is not possible to criminalize those who do not comply with the legal conditions for abortion.
The abolition of free access to abortion in the US is a violent step backwards and a serious attack on women’s sexual health and rights. It will deprive 58% of American women of their freedom and right to self-determination[3] †
Do we have to get back to that? Restrictions on abortion access do not lead to some abortions. On the contrary, the rate of unsafe abortions is much higher in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws than in countries with less restrictive laws. Clandestine abortions can lead to serious complications and even death: they are one of the leading causes of maternal death in contexts where access to abortion is limited.
The violence caused by carrying a pregnancy to term and not undergoing parenthood, etc.). It should also not be forgotten that the former will be the most precarious, and therefore the most vulnerable. After all, minority women generally have limited access to information on sexual and reproductive health, health care and effective contraception; they are therefore the first to be affected by this Supreme Court decision[4]†
Outside of the United States, the ramifications of this calculated decision are likely to reverberate around the world, encouraging other anti-choice, misogyny and sexist movements, and impacting other freedoms. In fact, this decision is not about the choice to terminate a pregnancy: it is an outright attack on a typical example of patriarchy and a desire to regain control of the woman’s body.
American judges who have placed their personal religious beliefs above the burgers’ underlying freedoms will have blood on their hands prior to that. We must remember that there is no real democracy if citizens do not make their own decisions about their bodies and their lives, and that the conditions of access to abortion are a measure of the level of democracy in countries. Together we must strive to struggle to protect the rights of all people, to progress to pregnancy of unwanted labour.
Call for mobilization on Thursday 30 June and practical info:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1480542402404790
Comments:
[1] United Nations figures, quoted by Véronique Séhier Séhier https://www.leparisien.fr/societe/veronique-sehier-une-femme-meurt-toutes-les-9-minutes-d-un-avortement-clandestin-dans-le-monde-20-05-2018- 7725984.php
[2] Figures from a study by the Abortion Right Platform
https://www.alterechos.be/avorter-apres-12-semaines-le-parcours-du-combattant-des-femmes-belges/
[3] Percentage of women of childbearing age living in a state where access to abortion would be abolished by severe restrictions.
[4] In Mississippi, for example, 80% of women who have high blood pressure belong to an ethnic minority. https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2022/06/24/droit-al-avortement-quelles-consequences-peut-avoir-l-annulation-de-l-arret-roe-vs-wade- aux-etats-unis_6124789_3211.html?fbclid=IwAR1A4BEBLZRXgghK-_IFcVeWqcC7-mc3_IkWVn88AEFgpqGYpeSGTmNRecQ
Photo: Lorie ShaulWikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0