ABORTION: AN INDIGENOUS VIEWPOINT

On Friday the Irish are voting on whether to repeal their abortion laws. Ireland has come a long way in recent decades. In 2015 they made gay marriage legal, which would have been unthinkable not too many years before. Being actively gay was itself only made legal in 1993. In the modern West we have one way of framing the argument for abortion: the woman's right over her body. And this is in the context of a wider sense of the rights of the individual. And that has given us a lot of protections and freedoms. Our system has given us a lot to be thankful for. But what might be an indigenous way of framing the abortion issue?

In his book Drawing Out Law: A Spirit's Guide, Native Canadian Professor John Borrows argues that a woman's pregnancy is, in their tradition, as much a community issue as an issue for the individual. It does not just come down to womens' rights over their bodies, though he has respect for that position. He says that in their culture everybody gets involved. So there is much more support for the woman. And the father is made to take his responsibility.

--------------------

Ad Break: I offer skype/FB video astrology readings, by donation. Contact: BWGoddard1 (at)aol.co.uk

---------------------

And, he says, there is much less abortion as a result. In our culture, we have lost that sense of close community. And I think it makes the argument about individual rights one-sided. There is also the responsibility argument. Remember that from the point of view of the unborn child, abortion is generally wrong. And this illustrates a wider point for us, in our attempt to reclaim a sense of the indigenous attitude. Which is that we need to find ways of creating that close community involvement and responsibility, and move away from the atomisation that our society tends towards.

 NB Please note the Free Email Subscribe button, top right of the page 😼