The Sydney Feminists

Image Source:  https://www.mediamatters.org/huffpost/media-highlight-how-help-people-states-passing-restrictive-abortion-laws “I can’t remember…” I stated, staring at my boyfriend at the time. Calculating the weeks in my head since my last menstrual cycle, I recalled all my recent bodily changes. My breasts were tender and enlarged, my tummy and hips looked bloated, the toilet was my new best friend, morning nausea visited me daily, my usual lightly grilled scallop sushi lunch repulsed me, and my craving for orange juice could never be satiated.   Dread consumed me. All signs pointed to one thing – pregnancy.    Although I already had a strong inclination of what the result would be, I unwrapped the pregnancy test and held my breath, hoping for a different outcome. I waited. Two faint red lines slowly became visible. My eyes widened and pupils dilated. Oh, Fuck. Opening the bathroom door, I waved the stick in his face. “I’m pregnant” I whispered, lo...

The United States’ recent, draconian legislation on abortion has once again brought the topic of female bodily autonomy to the foreground. Once again, it seems that everyone, regardless of whether or not they actually own a uterus or identify as a woman, has an opinion. It is an understandably terrifying time for women in the United States, whether they happen to live in the states affected by the laws or not. Women are justifiably afraid this slow dismantling of the tenets of Roe v Wade will have only one outcome, and it's a dire one for women all around the world. Australian women have been keeping a close eye on the proceedings. As we’re all too aware on this side of the pond, when the United States sneezes, the rest of the world tends to catch cold. This decision by the US is particularly worrying here in New South Wales and also in Queensland, where we have our own issues with bodily autonomy - though thankfully, at this point, they are nowhere near as dangerou...

In this piece, I will test the first of the  two premises   that underpin the wave of restrictive abortion legislative currently proliferating conservative America.   The first premise is that a fetus is a person, which leads to the second premise that killing a person is wrong.  If legislation is built on premise one, it relies on the following being true: that fertilistion is the point at which a ‘person’ comes into being (in a legal sense), and this is the only morally relevant consideration across all possible circumstances that a person could seek an abortion.  So, all cases of abortion are murder and the rights of a mass of cells trump those of the person who keeps them viable, even in cases of rape or incest. Good health and social policy should first do no harm and then preserve the freedoms of those the policy affects. Where restriction of freedoms is deemed necessary, a pragmatic  approach is always best where freedoms are limited o...