by Anne-Laure (Feb 7, 2005)

"I took my abortion pill and I managed by myself ".

This year, abortion celebrates its thirtieth birthday. A party that’s not really joyful : even if abortion is legalised, this experience remains a very long period of solitude for a lot of girls.

Thanks to "Veil law", abortion came off clandestinity. It is the end of the "faiseuses d'anges" and of secret interventions in England. The abortion law was a victory for all feminists. However, thirty years later, it remains a test of deep solitude despite the easy access and the recovered dignity.

Along with witnesses, we can easily understand that abortion is still a hidden practise, hidden from the public, the family and the husband. So women have to assume this important and difficult act by themselves. The boyfriend or the husband has suddenly vanished and the medical world is not always understanding.

Indeed, abortion is an underpaid specialisation, so it does not attract young doctors. Moreover, the lack of medical people, the crowded hospitals make women wait for a long time before the operation, sometimes up to a few days after the legal time for abortion.

The "Aubry law" in 2001 changed the legal period for abortion from ten to twelve weeks, which allows an easier process. On the other hand, since last July, women have been able to use at home an abortion pill renamed : "Mifégine", before five weeks of pregnancy. The perverse effect is the solitude in which women are in need of a person to talk to. To mention an abortion is to make a list of all the details, to be judged, and to have to justify yourself.

There are 200,000 abortions per year, which makes one out of five pregnancies...

If you wish to react to this article, write to the editor.

April 2, 2005
Here in Argentina abortion isn’t legalized, and it is a topic that is discussed a lot in our society.
In my opinion it should be legal, but it depends on which reason it’s used, because not every woman is prepared to this, and I think you can’t take away a life just because you want to.
In my country some ways of abortion are legalized, like if a women who’s insane or if she has mental problems, she can get an abortion, and if the baby can take the risk to die because of some illness. I believe this is something difficult to talk about, because there is a life between.

Micaela (Buenos Aires)

April 2, 2005

I think that legal abortion is very important to decrease deaths from abortions. In my opinion, every woman should take the decision if she wants to continue or not with her pregnancy. I understand that church is always disgusted with abortion because with this decision the mother is killing her son. The legalization of abortion is very important for women in all the and I believe that a lot of women celebrate the invention of the pill; but I believe that´s very difficult for a lot of women to take the decision to abort, and kill their sons.

Valeria (Buenos Aires)

April 2, 2005

I think it´s a good topic to talk about. I agree with the fact that maybe it isn´t a date which we have to celebrate like a "party"... but it is a date we have to remember, specially women.
I´m argentinian, and here we don´t have an abortion law. Here instead of losing pregnancies, we lose thousands of women that without knowing about abortion use inappropiate methods, or go to illegal doctors to do their abortions.
I agree with abortion, but I do not agree with abusing of it, I think women must decide what to do with their pregnancies, their bodies and most of all with their lives.

Jimena (Buenos Aires)

(April 2, 2005)

I think that this article is interesting. It doesn`t only talk about the moral issues, it considers the problems that pregnant women have to face to get an abortion. I think that it is important to remember that this isn`t only an operation, it’s something that affects women psychologically. It’s interesting also that you mention that even when the abortion is legalized, it isn`t easy to get one, because women have to face everything by themselves, and usually they don`t tell what they are going to do to their family, and they don`t have emotional support to get help to go through it, and the doctors are not very understanding and they can make you wait days before the operation, because they don`t have much staff. In conclution, I think that it is an interesting article and well written.

Geronimo (Buenos Aires)

(April 2, 2005)

I think it´s a good topic to talk about. I agree with the fact that maybe it isn´t a date which we have to celebrate like a "party"... but it is a date we have to remember, specially women.
I´m argentinian, and here we don´t have an abortion law. Here instead of losing pregnancies, we lose thousands of women that without knowing about abortion use inappropiate methods, or go to illegal doctors to do their abortions.
I agree with abortion, but I don’t agree with abusing of it. I think women must decide what to do with their pregnancies, their bodies and most of all with their lives.

Jimena (Buenos Aires)

April 29, 2006

I believe abortion is both a complex and interesting subject. Even though I learned about "Veil's Law" and "Aubry's Law" when I read your article, I think you are missing essential information, because you focus too much on saying that "... women assume this difficult and important act by themselves..." I do agree with that, but I think it's only in most cases. And as I was searching I found out about the different types and methods used for abortion, depending on how long 
the mother´s been pregnant plus how it's done. I also believe you are missing the fact that abortion is a global subject and only say what it's like in your country, and when I went online I found a chart that contained stuff like when and where abortion is legal and where and when it's not.
In conclusion I think you should add these things to your article.

Catalina (Buenos Aires, Argentina)