Today is going to be a controversial day for the blog I think. I want to talk about something that usually comes with a barrel of controversy and people get very… passionate about.
I want to talk about the rights on an unborn child.
This post was sparked off by the above picture (which states that fines should be implemented for women who smoke during pregnancy, as the new law that prohibits smoking in the car with kids should extend to protect unborn children too) which a friend posted on Facebook with the caption “Agree or Disagree?” Firstly, let me make it clear, I detest smoking. My husband used to do it, and I remember being horrified when a friend at work told me that smoking in the car while a child was there, even with the window down, was still bad for their health. I didn’t know, and after we got better educated it NEVER happened again (even though it was only on two occasions, it still curls my toes). Adam never smoked in our home, and as Roo grew he cut back and cut back until eventually 2 1/2 years ago, he quit. It’s a source of great pride that I have a husband who has given up smoking for his children, I think quitting an addiction is incredibly difficult, but parental love prevailed here and I’m immensely proud of him.
Back to the photo though, I have to say I disagree. I disagree because I am staunchly pro-choice, and to agree with this principle, in my eyes, makes you hypocritical if you are pro-choice. To believe that a woman’s body is her own, and as such a foetus has no rights until it can and does live independently of its mother, makes you pro-choice – whereby a woman can choose to have a termination, smoke, drink etc. To say that she should be fined for smoking during pregnancy, undermines that very principal. To agree with this would mean that you would support fining women for eating consistently unhealthy foods during pregnancy as that can have a similarly dangerous effect. Where does the buck stop? What about drinking too much alcohol, not taking proper precautions during driving or playing sports? What about working in a high risk job? To agree with this, in my eyes, sets a dangerous precedent, whereby a woman’s body is no longer hers once she has conceived and she becomes an incubator for another person. That is not a society I believe in, and it sure isn’t democratic.
Now, I’ve seen the argument that we have social intervention when a woman is shown to be a drug abuser, so why not with smoking or other unhealthy habits, but the truth is, I believe you have to weight up whether or not the ‘bad habit’ that the woman is partaking in is directly going to affect her ability to parent, and as such, can you help her to give up said habit, will it possibly endanger her child POST-pregnancy and is it right to intervene. To me, a heroine addict falls under incapable and likely to cause damage so social intervention is necessary but a smoker? Nope.
Smoking during pregnancy is not something that should be the business of anyone but the mother in question, the same as moderate or binge drinkers. Is it abhorrent? Yes. Is it something that people have the right to feel appalled by? Yes. Is it something that someone can tell you that you physically can’t do because you are sustaining and growing a new life? Sadly, no. Loving, caring mothers would strive to stop anyway, but by fining them you are infringing on their human rights, a principal I can’t support.
I’d love to know your thoughts, even if you totally disagree – I know this is emotive so try to be respectful too!
H x
