Abortion is a widely discussed and debated topic globally. For long, however, the subject was shrouded in silence in Lebanon before it finally turned into an issue of public opinion. The abortion debate was brought forward here recently due to a spat between two civil society activists who had widely different opinions on the matter.
When discussing abortion, many questions immediately arise. Usually though, they tend to revolve around the fetus and the husband instead of the woman. Does she want to carry on with the pregnancy? Is she ready for motherhood? These key questions are not addressed in the debate.
When looking at women’s issues as a whole in the abortion debate, one can clearly see the marginalization and systematic violations of women’s freedoms. Despite the fact that the woman is at the heart of the issue, her voice remains absent and she is robbed of her decision and will. Although abortion remains illegal in many countries, I have read that refugees or domestic workers are allowed abortions. The same is true in cases of rape. For me, this reasoning shows that a woman’s right to abortion is closely linked to exploitation.
The issue of abortion is still facing much resistance under the pretext of religion as some societies seek to encapsulate the matter in a religious framework. In some cases, abortion is accepted for women before three months of pregnancy- if the husband agrees, that is. Here we see that abortion moved away from being a religious issue only to enter the framework of patriarchal authority over women.
The ban on abortion continues to cause many negative consequences for the pregnant woman. The woman may have to keep the child and there are no real rights here in Lebanon for protecting single women and their children. Hence, the child cannot be officially registered which in turn destroys the future of the child. There are many such cases in Lebanon.
There is also the issue of women going through unsafe and clandestine abortions in underground or unlicensed clinics in Lebanon. These “clinics” do not follow basic hygiene standards which could have disastrous consequences for the woman and even cause her death. Using a clandestine clinic to have an abortion could also result in the woman being blackmailed after the procedure and being subject to social stigma. That is simply terrible as she was forced to resort to an unlicensed clinic due to her inability to exercise her basic rights in Lebanon. At least, the good news is that many people around the world work hard to make abortion legal where it is still not and ensure safe access to it.
