Abortion

At 24 weeks gestation, I almost lost my precious boy, Taj.

Suffering a life threatening pregnancy complication, I began bleeding while visiting friends in Melbourne.

After three gut wrenching days in hospital, I flew back to Sydney to spend the rest of the pregnancy flat on my back. Each time I stood up, gravity precipitated a bleed.

In the end, we were lucky. Taj made it to 36 weeks and, despite being of extremely low birth weight, he’s grown into a healthy, even chubby, three year old.

Now – had Taj been born at 24 weeks, he would have had a 50/50 chance of survival.

The dedicated doctors at the Royal Hospital for Women in Melbourne would have done everything within their power to keep my baby alive.

And yet these same doctors will soon be able to legally kill a 24 week old foetus, if abortion is removed from the Crimes Act.

Today, Victoria’s upper house will debate a bill to give women open access to an abortion up to six months gestation. It was passed by the lower house, without amendment, last month.

The dictionary definition of abortion is “an operation or other procedure to terminate pregnancy before the foetus is viable.”

If, due to medical technology, a foetus is now viable at 24 weeks, how can abortion be an option?

Foetus. Baby. Human Life.

Abortion divides community like no other issue. Anti-abortion and pro-choice campaigners are clashing on Melbourne streets, chanting “Defend the unborn” or “Get your rosaries off our ovaries”.

Twenty years ago I was a young feminist, full of self-righteous zeal, marching for the right for women to have control over their bodies.

I was affronted by the uptight twin-set brigade, clutching their pearls and harrassing poor unfortunates outside the East Melbourne Fertility Control Clinic.

As a journalist covering these protests, I tried my best to remain impartial. But I found the hypocrisy galling, as right-to-lifers threw Molotov cocktails at abortion clinics.

I would have had an abortion in a heartbeat. No regrets.

How times change.

If I became pregnant now, there is no way I would consider an abortion.

Equally, my heart goes out to women who have been raped and abused, or are simply too emotionally fraught to take on the onerous task of parenting.

Internet chat rooms and mother’s forums are alive with women grappling with this complex discussion.

The overwhelming message seems to be: we support a woman’s right to choose but, at 24 weeks, the pregnancy is too far advanced.

The mother of a six year old Thomas Sharples, who was born at 26 weeks, is one of many weighing in to the debate, expressing her disgust.

“You are murdering this child. I know they talk about them being a foetus or embryo, but Thomas was a baby to me.”

Senior Minister Theo Theophanous echoes the thoughts of many in the community, saying he’ll push for an amendment to 20 weeks.

Most medical testing for birth defects, including amniocentisis and chorionic villus sampling, is done between 12 and 16 weeks gestation. If a woman, or couple, makes the heartbreaking decision to terminate the pregnancy, it could still be done well before the 20 week mark.

This issue is like a Russian Nested Doll – each time you think you’ve looked at all the angles, there’s a slightly different one you hadn’t considered.

Consider the conscientious objection clause, which would force pro-life doctors to refer patients to pro-choice doctors.

The AMA and the Catholic Church are outraged, the latter threatening to close 15 hospitals over a clause it says breaches a doctor’s right to freedom of religion.

Thousands rallied outside Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday to hear Catholic leaders speak of protecting life from “womb to tomb”, describing the proposed laws as “morally repugnant”.

In some ways, decriminalizing abortion is a sensible solution to an absurd legal ambiguity: abortions are routinely performed in Victoria, but doctors and women can be prosecuted for the crime.

Changing the law makes sense.

But you only need to look at a six months’ pregnant woman to know that 24 weeks is too late.

Tracey Spicer is editor of Out & About With Kids magazine.