There is a topic that revolves around the media and current discourses when referring to Women's Day: March 8. It seems that on this day it is imposed to talk about women's rights and thus, as an aside, a topic appears that touches the bottom, the so-called "right" to abortion. No matter how much one thinks about it, it is difficult to understand this fatal link: woman-abortion that is imposed on us with increasing force. Woman is precisely the opposite of abortion. It is life, the possibility of giving life, it is welcoming life, it is caring for life, ... however, a current of death intends to stain her name with blood and every day with greater vigor associates women with abortion, moreover, it proclaims it as a right, as a feminine right!!!
I would ask you to think for a moment about this issue, following an elementary logic, and give some simple answers: what is abortion? It is killing a child conceived in the womb, it is death. And what is a right? It is something that is allowed to be done. Right to abortion, then, is the right to kill a child conceived in the womb. And if this is so, the question immediately arises: is anyone allowed to kill? Kill a child? The pages of the newspapers are stained with violence and the greatest cruelty, but, let's agree, it would be a barbarity to accept such a fact -the killing of a child- as a "right". However, we hear that this alleged "right" is spoken of naturally in the most varied fields and on more than one occasion from the mouths of those people who, due to their political responsibility, should be watching over health and human life.
If this alleged "right" to abortion were stated so simply and crudely, we would all instinctively reject it. Because it is irrational, inhuman and repugnant to nature, but they present it to us covered up behind false slogans: "the legalization of abortion reduces maternal death".
It is stated that if there were legal abortion in the country, the maternal death rate would decrease since the provision of "safe abortion" would be offered.
Without analyzing the repugnant nature of the last statement ("safe" for whom? The only certainty is the death of the child) let's go to what was expressed by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Population Fund, which coincidentally point out as the only effectiveness to end maternal death: the care and protection of women's health before, during and after childbirth. The obviousness of the statement exempts from comments. This presumes a health system that offers all the necessary services for the care of women's health, with trained medical personnel, and an entire health infrastructure put at the service of the health and life of women and their children.
Now, is it true that in countries where abortion is legal, fewer women die from pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium? And we find another lie: more than 50% of maternal deaths in the world occur in countries where pro-abortion legislation is less restrictive. In India, where abortion is allowed in almost all cases and stages, is where there are more maternal deaths. Every year around 136 thousand women die!!! The highest maternal mortality rates in Latin America are in Bolivia (420 per/ 100 thousand Live Births -LB) and in Peru (410 per/100 thousand LB) countries where abortion is, in some cases, allowed. What is indeed decisive is to see the relationship between maternal death and the number of births attended by specialized personnel, so we have that in Haiti, which has the highest maternal mortality rate in the region (680 per/ 100,000 LB) only 24% of births women receive specialized care, a figure that in Bolivia reaches 35% and in Peru 41%. Cold numbers that enclose pain and death.
In countries where there have recently been restrictions regarding abortion, there has been, on the contrary, a decrease in cases of maternal death.
The case of Poland is paradigmatic: in 93 it was decided to penalize abortion in most cases, which was legal until then, from then on the number of legal abortions was reduced by 99.8% -from 59,417 in 1990 to 138 in 2000- and maternal mortality experienced a decrease of 73.3% (going from 15 per/100,000 LB in 1990 to 4 per/100,000 LB in 2000).
According to WHO figures, 68,000 women die each year in the world due to abortion and the majority of these maternal deaths occur in countries where abortion is legal, which undermines the argument that once abortion is legalized it becomes "safe abortion". It is another vile lie, there is no safe abortion, its consequences are tremendous for the woman and for the child, obviously death. Thus in India, (with one of the most permissive legislations in this regard) 27,000 women die annually due to abortion. This means 20% of maternal deaths in that country, one in 5, which in total, as we said before, reach 136 thousand equivalent to a quarter of the total world maternal deaths.
In the first world, let's analyze the situation in Spain, a country with significant economic growth after joining the European Union and an excellent health system. The Family Policy Institute of Spain points out in the 2005 report that abortion is the leading cause of mortality in that country above cancer and accidents. In 2002 there were 80 thousand abortions, 10% more than the previous year. One in six Spanish pregnancies ends in abortion. Twenty years after its legalization, the number of abortions has increased by 400%!!!
The figures are conclusive, unfortunately they hide behind them, each one, individually, a story of pain, loneliness, suffering, death. We cannot stay with the cold numbers. Each of these lives has incalculable value in itself and each one of them must challenge the conscience of those who seek an easy solution without caring how much pain there is inside each of these.
On our day, March 8, once again, as we do every day, women defend life, with our joy, our femininity, and with our strength, honoring the humanity that we have in our special care, without letting ourselves be deceived by false proposals. On our day, March 8, we say again "yes to life!" and reject this barbarity that they intend to impose on us as false rights.
Cristina de Delgado
WOMEN FOR LIFE
President
International Coordinator of the NETWORK OF INSTITUTIONS FOR HELPING WOMEN (RIPAM)