Abortion Ban in Lithuania?
April 21, 2008 by Kristen
The feminists at Feministing have picked up on an abortion ban currently being considered by the Lithuanian Parliament, under pressure from the Catholic Church, to ban abortion in their country. They make the most significant point that such abortion bans only truly affect lower-income women, and this has been the case throughout much of history. In the case of Lithuania, wealthy women will be able to travel to other European countries for abortions, while women without economic means to do so will be unable to seek these options.
This is again why women in New York and the more liberal “blue” states should still be concerned about abortion bans in other states in the U.S. “Let them fly to New York,” they say, when faced with the prospect of bans in South Dakota. But who is this “them” and how will they have the funds, nevermind the resources if they are younger and without familial support, to do so? Within a state or country that bans abortion, wealthy women have historically been able to find doctors who, for the right price, will perform a medically-safe abortion. It is for this reason that we must be concerned not only with our regional laws, but with our national ones, and remember that while middle-class and higher-income women may have the means to circumvent such laws, many women do not have a plethora of options, or even one other option, at hand.
Kristen
