At the end of last year, Argentina passed a law that allows women to abort up to the 14th week of pregnancy. Various groups in other Latin American countries consider that sooner or later this “green tide”, as the movement that promoted this change is known, will reach the entire region.
“Giving women the right to choose what happens to their bodies is just one of the great social transformations that will begin to occur to create more equitable societies between men and women,” says Marta, a 32-year-old from Argentina who maintains that This trend will be unstoppable, “like other historical processes that overthrew structures of injustice and submission.”
The word fair right is the one that mobilizes another segment that considers that allowing a woman who decides to have an abortion implies prioritizing her rights, over those of the life she carries within.
Dr. José Luis Velayos Jorge, professor of Morphology at the Faculty of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Madrid, referring to the beginning of life sustains. “Everything begins with fertilization. From that moment, a cascade of smooth and uninterruptedly concatenated events is established … Fertilization is like the head of the cascade that loses intensity over time, until the moment of death … Consequently, the terms of zygote, morula, embryo, fetus, neonate, child, youth, adult, elderly are irrelevant and the moment of delivery, even though it is very important, is just another biographical event in life ”.
Velayos states that, from the moment of fertilization, “it is an autonomous life because that being takes from the environment in which it finds everything it needs to survive, independently, in many cases where the mother is ill or malnourished. Relative autonomy, not essentially different from that of the adult, which also depends on the environment in which it is found: air, water, food, social relationships, etc ”.
Dr. Caridad Dávalos, pediatrician and professor at the San Francisco University of Quito points out that the union of the ovum with the sperm to a single cell is fertilization, it is the first step in the series of complex events that pregnancy entails. Fertilization occurs in the fallopian tubes. In the following days, this single cell divides into multiple cells.
“At the same time, these cells migrate to the uterus where they implant and grow. For eight weeks after implantation it is called an embryo. In this period, the brain, the spine, the heart tissue, the muscles of the eyes, nose and mouth begin to form. The hands and feet also begin to develop and the lungs begin to form the tubes that will carry oxygen after delivery. From week nine until birth it is called a fetus ”, explains the specialist.
About the fetus’s ability to feel pain, he responds that rigorous scientific studies have found that the connections necessary to transmit signals from the peripheral sensory system to the brain, as well as the brain structures to process those signals, do not develop until a week. 24 gestation. “Since it does not have the connections and structures, the fetus does not have the physiological capacity to perceive pain until the 24th week of gestation. The perception of pain requires more than the mechanical transmission and reception of signals ”, he explains.
He adds that pain is an emotional and psychological experience that requires recognition of the painful stimulus. “This capacity does not develop until the third trimester of pregnancy. Scientific evidence shows that the neural circuitry necessary to distinguish painful touch does not develop until late in the third trimester. Intrauterine fetal movements are not an indication that the fetus is feeling pain, “he concludes, indicating that this information is available from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (” Fetal Awareness: Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice ”). And in the study led by Dr. Lee SJ Ralston: “Fetal pain: A multidisciplinary systematic review” and published by Jama (Journal of the American Medical Association).
A patriarchal logic
“As the Latin American culture is marked by a patriarchal logic, there is a position of judgment and control of the sexual life of women, of their decisions, of their motherhood without knowing what is behind each case,” says clinical psychologist Sonia Rodríguez Jaramillo, professor at the Catholic University of Guayaquil and member of CEPAM.
He adds that on issues that affect women, decisions are generally made by male authorities or by women who share the patriarchal logic that motherhood is mandatory for all, regardless of the conditions.
She maintains that motherhood should not be approached only as a biological process, “they are not pregnant bodies, they are women with stories, experiences, learning and singularities.”
The psychologist reflects on the moral and religious approach that motherhood always brings happiness to women. “Of course, motherhood brings us happiness when it is sought, when it is desired and carried in good conditions, but other times it occurs with violence, in the midst of abuse. Every year in the country more than 2,000 girls under the age of 14 become pregnant as a result of sexual violence. That is criminal ”.
He points out that pretending that a 12-year-old girl carries out a motherhood inspired by ideas such as that children come with bread under their arms or that all motherhood is divine design, is to endanger the life and health of that girl because she does not have the physical or psychological conditions to carry out a pregnancy.
He mentions that Ecuador has recommendations from international organizations that it should address sexual violence, that it should legalize abortion because doing so does not mean forcing girls and women to have an abortion, but rather giving them the opportunity to do it with accompaniment, with counseling . It is just an option. In addition, it is a way for the State to assume its responsibility, because if it cannot protect its girls, that its women are not raped, it has the obligation to guarantee conditions to restore rights.
Beyond the cases of forced pregnancies, “we do not seek to have a child in every sexual encounter,” says Rodríguez, who argues that a health system that offers effective forms of contraception could help prevent them. But she warns that in a population that lacks sexual education and efficient and friendly health services, many women become pregnant without planning it, without wanting to. “Some are even forced by men not to use contraception. That is a reality ”.
When health systems do not provide women with their contraceptive methods, they are no longer protected, as he points out that has occurred during the current pandemic.
Sex education for life
“Sex education in our country is extremely limited and almost non-existent,” says the psychologist and adds that we have decades with programs that change, that change again because they are unfortunately determined by the conception of sexuality of the authorities. In addition, it must be considered that there is a percentage of the population that does not study, a reality that has increased with the limitations of the pandemic.
He concludes by saying that in countries where quality sex education is provided, there are fewer abortions. Although it clarifies that a scientific and systematic sexual education is required, from a rights approach that questions gender inequalities, that not only addresses pregnancies, but also accepts the questions and concerns that children or adolescents may have.
From his point of view, “sexual education for life should be offered, not only related to contraception, pregnancies or intercourse, but also includes knowledge of one’s own body and the ways to care for it, the body of the other, the discovery of the sensations and learn to handle them. It is learning a healthy, pleasant, responsible and violence-free sexuality ”.
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