Tag: abortion

This Is My Abortion

Recently, I had an abortion in the United States. Lining the street in
front of the clinic were a dozen or so protesters. They held up large
banners with anti-abortion slogans, religious iconography, and images of
dead babies.

Just past the bulletproof security doors, the graphic nature of that
imagery haunted me in the waiting room. What would my abortion look
like? I decided to secretly document my abortion with my cell phone.

My intention in documenting and sharing my abortion is to demystify the
sensationalist images propagated by the religious and political right on
this matter. The use of lifeless fetus photographs are a propaganda tool
in the anti-choice/pro-choice debate in which women and their bodies are
used as pawns to push a cultural, political, and religious agenda in the
United States.

At 6 weeks of pregnancy, my abortion looked very different than the
images I saw when I entered the clinic that day. Experiencing my own
abortion and photographing the result was a sobering experience. As a
woman, I reckon with the power of images every day. But after my
abortion, I realised images are literally being used as a weapon to
petrify and assault viewers into fear, shame, and isolation. The
protesters’ heartless use of lifeless foetus images made me feel
cheated, lied to and manipulated. It was just propaganda: intended to
shake the core of my deepest biological, intellectual and emotional
foundation.

In the last month since launching thisismyabortion.com, I received a
deluge of emails from men, women and couples all over the world
confiding in me their own courageous and unique abortion stories. Some
told tales of horrific self-inflicted abortions in countries where
abortion remains illegal. Others expressed sincere gratitude for my
documentation, either because it mirrored their own experiences of safe
abortions or, in some cases, because they had always associated abortion
with the same grotesque images I had encountered while entering the
clinic. I was contacted by women in Turkey that feared that their right
to make a free choice for their body was potentially at risk. These are
women that stand in solidarity with the larger movement of women and men
that hold the right to choose as a basic human right.

I believe we are the majority, and we hold the power to demand the
right to make educated choices for our bodies and our families. I hope
thisismyabortion.com will be used as a tool to bring a fair, honest,
balanced view of safe abortion. We, together, can take a stand for the
truth, women’s rights and reproductive justice internationally.

August 9, 2012
More babies for a strong Turkey

Until recently, it used to be considered almost blasphemous to talk about “the rise of authoritarian politics in Turkey.” This fact alone is indeed a sign of authoritarian politics and/or authoritarian political cultures that it takes a long time to be alarmed by the signs of authoritarianism. The democrats of Turkey have long thought that authoritarianism is particular to Kemalism and its remnants, like the secularist military and judicial hegemony.

Now, “democrats” claim to be disappointed and even shocked by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s statements and Justice and Development Party (AKP) policies concerning the Uludere incident and abortion, which have been linked together in a curious way by PM Erdoğan himself. Finally, democrats have started to question the sincerity of the AKP on democratization or have begun to focus on Erdoğan’s personality.

There is no doubt that charismatic leaders like Erdoğan have a tendency toward autocracy.

Nevertheless, it speaks of a shallow understanding of politics to focus on traits like the “sincerity” of a political party or focus on the “personal mood” of its leader.

The test of sincerity for a political party and its leader is only possible through scrutiny and an analysis of its politics. Apart from political developments which have offered clear signs of authoritarian leanings, Erdoğan and many AKP politicians have not been hypocritical about their political convictions.

Erdoğan is, in fact often praised for his boldness. A good example among AKP politicians is Professor Burhan Kuzu, the current head of the Parliamentary Constitution Commission and an eager advocate of the “presidential system” who unashamedly announced his support for “capital punishment” a year ago. Nobody, however, bothered to discuss the political discourse of not only AKP but of “conservative democrats” in general up until very recently.

Now, it is the debate on abortion which has naturally provoked a lot of controversy. It is widely accepted that Erdoğan wanted to manipulate public opinion and divert attention from the Uludere controversy. Even if that is true, his anti-abortion stance underlined his authoritarian conservative leanings since he not only stated that he was against the pro-choice idea but also started a process to illegalize abortion. Moreover, he improved upon his conservative discourse by supplementing it with the nationalist line that he was against abortion and Caesarian operations because he thinks they are plots to hinder population growth in Turkey. In his Diyarbakır speech, he emphasized the importance of a young population for economic growth and for a strong country. Erdoğan wants more babies for a strong Turkey even if the mothers are reluctant.

In fact, even though some projections show that there could be problems related to a population decrease in future, there is no sign of a labor shortage problem in Turkey. On the contrary, unemployment is still a social, as well as economic problem. Besides, it is possible to overcome any labor force problem by relaxing immigration policies. Erdoğan’s “politics of benevolence” for poor countries could be reflected in immigration policies. I am sure poor Somalis would be more than happy if they were granted permission to reside and work in Turkey. Otherwise, the politics of population growth is nothing but a nationalist ambition.

The controversy on abortion is surely one of the conservative, authoritarian and nationalistic repercussions of Erdoğan and the AKP government – and I am afraid it will not be the last one.

via NURAY MERT – More babies for a strong Turkey.

June 9, 2012
Turkey PM Erdogan sparks row over abortion

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described abortion as tantamount to “murder”, angering women’s rights groups and sparking an intense debate in the mainly Muslim nation.

Turkish feminists hold placards as they protest outside the Turkish Prime Minister's office in Istanbul

In line with Mr Erdogan’s comments, Turkey’s health minister proposed a change in the abortion law, which rights groups fear could lead to a total ban.

Abortions became legal in 1983. According to 2008 figures, 10% of pregnancies in Turkey were terminated through abortion, far lower than the European average rate of 30%.

Speaking last week at a conference on population and development, Mr Erdogan said “there is no difference between killing a baby in its mother’s stomach and killing a baby after birth”.

“I consider abortion to be murder. No-one should have the right to allow this to happen.”

Mr Erdogan also said he was “a prime minister that is against birth by caesarean” because “unnecessary” elective caesareans were “unnatural”.

Mr Erdogan, who is known to advocate having large families, caused yet more anger when he compared abortion to the aerial bombardment of civilians.

“Every abortion is like an Uludere,” he said – a reference to an incident last December in which 34 civilians were killed by the Turkish military in an air strike near the Iraqi border.

An investigation into the incident is still going on, with claims that the civilians were mistaken for Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) armed insurgents.

‘Our womb’

Perhaps inevitably, Mr Erdogan received the backing the Turkish parliament’s human rights committee chairman Ayhan Sefer Ustun.

Mr Ustun, who belongs to the ruling Islamist-rooted AKP (Justice and Development Party) of Mr Erdogan, said abortion should be banned as it constitutes “a crime against humanity”.

“The notion that life begins after a few months is a grand delusion. We now need to rid society of this misconception… It also poses a danger to the mother’s life.”

But that was not the reaction from feminists and women’s rights groups.

Habibe Yilmaz, lawyer and director of the Centre for Legal Support for Women, said “making a decision regarding one’s own body… is a fundamental human right”.

“Depriving women of this right would be tantamount to restricting her right to health and the right to live a fulfilling life.”

I believe the law should prevent abortions as much as possible”

Recep Akdag Turkey’s Health Minister

The Istanbul Feminist Collective reacted angrily. It staged a sit-in outside the prime minister’s office in Istanbul. Women held banners declaring “Murder is male violence, abortion is a choice!” and “Our womb, our life, our decision!”

Illegal practices

Next in line to reject Mr Erdogan’s comments was Turkey’s medical fraternity. The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) warned that restricting abortion would only encourage illegal practices, push women to use “primitive methods” to abort and increase maternal mortality.

“Prime Minister Erdogan’s worries that the population will decrease and the nation will be wiped off the face of the Earth are baseless. Turkey’s population will reach 90 million in 2050 without any additional arrangements,” said TTB Secretary-General Feride Tanik.

The prime minister also faces international criticism. US-based Human Rights Watch has warned that restrictions on abortion would threaten “women’s human rights to life, health, equality, privacy, physical integrity, and freedom of religion and conscience”.

Change in law?

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Health Minister Recep Akdag has said a draft law will be submitted next month that would restrict or ban abortions.

“I believe the law should prevent abortions as much as possible, except in cases when they are medically necessary. When making a decision, politicians will take into account both the scientific and moral aspects of the issue,” he said.

In a reference to babies born as a result of rape, Mr Akdag said that the state would look after the babies if “the mother has been through something bad”.

It is not clear what the draft bill would entail, but rights groups fear either a total ban or limiting abortions to four weeks after pregnancy. Current Turkish law allows abortions until the 10th week after conception.

New restrictions on abortion would not necessarily hurt Turkey’s bid for EU membership, as some EU member states either ban abortion or set very strict conditions for it.

via BBC News – Turkey PM Erdogan sparks row over abortion.

June 2, 2012