Our pamphlet for the demonstration

Answering the Genocide Awareness Project

This Thursday, March 8th is International Women's Day. This is a day that is supposed to inspire women and celebrate their achievements. But instead of celebrating women, pro-choice students of UBC will instead be gathering to protest a disturbing display by Lifeline which attacks women's rights and aims to send us back to an age when thousands of women died from unsafe, back-alley abortions.

The Genocide Awareness Project is an anti-abortion display consisting of images of Holocaust victims, African American lynching victims, other victims of genocide, and images of fetuses, which promotes the view that abortion is a form of genocide. The display is designed to shock and outrage, as well as shame women who have or are considering exercising their right to access abortion. Students for Reproductive Rights strongly opposes the comparison of abortion to genocide, and for an excellent explanation of why this is an inappropriate, we recommend reading Joyce Arthur's excellent article "No Virginia, Abortion is NOT Genocide".

In preparation for its display, Lifeline has listed a number of questions that it plans to discuss with the public on March 8th and 9th. Students for Reproductive Rights will be there to counter misinformation and promote women's rights. Here, we offer our answers to Lifeline's questions, explaining why abortion must be kept legal.

Question 1:

Should it be legal?

Answer:

Absolutely! Abortion is an essential, legal medical procedure that women desperately need, not only to give them control over their bodies and lives but to preserve and improve the lives of their families. The World Health Organization estimates that 20 million unsafe abortions happen every year, mostly in countries where abortion is illegal. Of these, approximately 68 000 women annually die as a result of complications from these procedures; between 2 and 7 million survive but sustain long-term damage or disease (including sepsis, hemorrhage, and injury to internal organs). Making abortion illegal does nothing to lower the number of abortions that occur, but does increase the number of women who are killed or seriously injured.

Question 2:

How does it compare to past atrocities?

Answer:

Abortion in no way compares to past atrocities committed against black slaves, interned Jews, Cambodian Killing Field victims, or any other group that has experienced genocide. Genocide is an intolerable act of hatred against a particular community of people. Abortion is an essential, legal medical procedure that women desperately need, not only to give them control over their bodies and lives but to preserve and improve the lives of their families. Fetuses, lacking any self awareness or ability to feel pain, cannot reasonably be compared to the millions of very sentient people able to feel pain, fear and suffering who were victimized during genocides.

Question 3:

Are the unborn human?

Answer:

The debate about the legality of abortion is often framed as being about whether or not the fetus is a human. What needs to be asked, however, is if any human, whether a fetus or adult, has the right to use another person’s body to live. Let’s consider a hypothetical man, John. John suffers from leukemia, and requires a bone marrow transplantation to survive. Now consider a second man, Matt. Matt is the only person doctors have been able to find as a match for John. John will die without the bone marrow. But does this mean that John has a right to Matt’s bone marrow?

Most people are uncomfortable with the idea of forced-organ donation. Bodily autonomy, the right of a person to decide what is done to his or her body, is one of the most important rights we have. Whether a fetus is a person is a philosophical and religious question, and the religious beliefs of one group should never be imposed on others not sharing those beliefs. But whether we believe that a fetus is a person entitled to the rights granted to persons under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or not, no person, born or “unborn”, has the right to use a non-consenting person’s body for survival.

Question 4:

What about a woman's right to choose?

Answer:

Abortion is an essential, legal medical procedure that women desperately need, not only to give them control over their bodies and lives but to preserve and improve the lives of their families. According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, women who have abortions overwhelmingly cite their understanding of responsibilities of parenthood and family life when making their decisions. Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner. Women are completely capable of understanding the complexities of abortion and the factors in their lives which lead them to consider abortion. They are autonomous beings who have the right and the ability to make decisions in their lives.