I'm glad I don't live in the US

Seriously, this is ridiculous:


(via feministing)

Anti-choice policies hurt women all over the world.

To digress slightly from the video, whenever I'm speaking with someone who is pro-life about reproductive rights, I find that they have the false idea that the only question is that of the fetus' life. What most of these people don't get is that legalized abortions aren't simply a means for women to have access to abortions. Women have been inducing miscarriages artificially for centuries. There are all kinds of methods to do this, from ingesting certain herbs (supposedly) to inserting tree bark into one's uterus in order for an infection to develop and induce a miscarriage. A lot of these methods are incredibly dangerous to women's health. Before abortions were made legal, hospitals had entire wards just for women suffering from botched abortion attempts! In spite of these dangers, women wanted the choice. They wanted to control their own reproductive health and their bodies. They needed the option. What legalized abortion does is provide women with access to safe abortions. Yes, it's about protecting women's lives. As in, the lives of actual living people who actively contribute to society.

It's mind-boggling that women's basic rights to body agency and safe medical practices are still being challenged. Wake up, US. If you pass these legislations, you'll have undone years of progress in terms of women's rights. You are undoing and devaluing that progress every time you place women's rights below the fetus' rights in terms of importance. Women are the persons. Women's rights issues are human rights issues and nothing less.