In about half an hour, it will be 7th April, World Health Day. For World Health Day, the lovely people over at The Hand Mirror have organised a blogswarm on the topic “Abortion: it’s a health issue not a crime”. Sadly, here in New Zealand, abortion is still listed under the Crimes Act, so anyone who wishes to have an abortion has to jump through hoops in order to obtain it. I wasn’t aware of this until relatively recently, and it shocked me to hear that the country I love, which I have always considered very ‘women-friendly’ has such awful laws, which limit a woman’s control over her own body.
I believe whole heartedly that abortion should be treated as a health issue, and available on demand. The availability of counselling to women who seek abortions is a good thing, in my opinion, as it isn’t the right decision for everyone, but that counselling should be unbiased, and there to help people make the best decision for them.
I am pro-choice, but I doubt I would ever have an abortion myself, due largely to the effect I think it would have on my already unstable mental health, but I still would like to know that if I did want to have an abortion, I would be able to access one quickly and safely. A friend of mine who studies population health was telling me last week that from the first contact with doctors/health professionals about getting an abortion, the average wait can be up to 3 weeks in the public health system, which I can imagine would be very upsetting. I don’t have any supporting evidence for that statistic, as it’s just something she learned in class, but it’s something I find very concerning.*
I hope that one day, when I CHOOSE to have a child/children, that they grow up in a New Zealand where abortion is a health issue, and not a crime.
*Update: I found an article on the NZ Herald website which says there is an average wait of 25 days after seeing their referring doctor. I’d have preferred an academic source, but I’m having difficulty tracking one down.
