{"id":256168,"date":"2010-01-31T18:04:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-31T23:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalvoicesonline.org\/?p=120558"},"modified":"2010-01-31T18:04:00","modified_gmt":"2010-01-31T23:04:00","slug":"puerto-rico-bloggers-discuss-roe-v-wade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/256168","title":{"rendered":"Puerto Rico: Bloggers discuss Roe v. Wade"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 37th anniversary of the landmark United States Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade<\/a> (January 22, 1973)\u00a0 spurred bloggers in Puerto Rico to express their opinions about a ruling that still sparks controversy. The decision made abortion legal in the United States<\/a>, and it was extended to Puerto Rico due to the Island's political relationship with the US (Puerto Rico is a US commonwealth). Feminist bloggers from Puerto Rico, all of them pro-choice, joined to voice their thoughts on occasion of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. We have also included the opinion of bloggers on the other side of the debate.<\/p>\n

Feminist lawyer Ver\u00f3nica RT explains in her blog Mujeres en Puerto Rico<\/em><\/a> [ES] that when it comes to abortion women's voices are still silenced:<\/p>\n

Sin embargo, y a pesar de que ya van casi cuatro d\u00e9cadas desde el reconocimiento de tal derecho, el aborto contin\u00faa siendo un tab\u00fa, las historias de las mujeres que han abortado son silenciadas, y el espacio ret\u00f3rico ha sido casi completamente ocupado por las corrientes fundamentalistas que utilizan la religi\u00f3n como justificaci\u00f3n para subordinar a las mujeres\u2026Nos corresponde, entonces, a nosotras velar por ser las autoras de nuestras propias historias, sin intervenci\u00f3n indebida del Estado ni de nuestras parejas, ni de una sociedad a\u00fan machista. Despu\u00e9s de todo, la historia de nuestra emancipaci\u00f3n la escribiremos nosotras. Nadie m\u00e1s.<\/p>\n

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Although more than four decades have passed since this right was recognized, abortion is still a taboo. Stories of women who have had an abortion are silenced, and the rhetoric space has been almost completely occupied by fundamentalists who use religion to justify the subordination of women\u2026It is our task to be the writers of our own stories, without having the State or our partners\u2019 intervening, nor a sexist society. After all, we are the ones who will write the story of our liberation. No one else.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Photo by Punkassphotos. Republished under a CC Licence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Feminist blogger Nahomi Galindo also explains<\/a> [ES] her position:<\/p>\n

La experiencia de la maternidad var\u00eda de mujer en mujer. Defender el derecho al aborto no significa obligar a las mujeres a realiz\u00e1rselo; por el contrario, implica que las mujeres que lo necesiten tengan la libertad de elegir sin ser perseguidas ni exponerse a morir en el proceso. Por eso es importante recordar un lema feminista que dice: \u201cImagina que te prohibieran parir. Ahora imagina que te obligaran\u201d. En esta frase invita a reflexionar sobre cu\u00e1n macabro es ejercer el poder sobre el cuerpo de la mujer sin incluirla en la decisi\u00f3n.<\/p>\n

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Women experience motherhood in different ways. To defend the right of abortion does not mean to force women to have an abortion. On the contrary, it means that women who need an abortion should have the freedom to choose, without being persecuted nor exposing themselves to dying as part of the procedure.\u00a0 This is why it\u2019s important to remember the feminist slogan that says: \u201cImagine if you were prohibited to have children. Now imagine that you were forced to.\u201d This phrase invites us to reflect on how terrible it is to exercise power over women\u2019s bodies without including her in the decision.<\/p>\n

Every woman should have the power to decide over her body and health. When we speak in public about abortion what we are asking is that women who need an abortion may have access to a free, safe and hygienic procedure, without being criminalized for it. We also claim for a responsible sexual education that includes information on pregnancy prevention not limited to the disastrous pro-abstinence campaign.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In her blog Promesa Pol\u00edtica<\/em><\/a> [ES], Mariana Iriarte expresses her thoughts:<\/p>\n

Cuando me preguntan por qu\u00e9, a\u00fan siendo madre, defiendo el derecho al aborto siempre contesto que lo defiendo porque tener un hijo fue mi decisi\u00f3n. El cuerpo de las mujeres debe estar en el \u00e1mbito de agencia de \u00e9stas, no en el Estado, la sociedad o la religi\u00f3n. Decidir qu\u00e9 hacer con tu cuerpo y controlar tu sistema reproductivo es un derecho fundamental que, de ninguna manera, debiera ser regulado por el Estado.<\/p>\n

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When I am asked why I defend the right of abortion, although I am a mother, I always say it is because I decided to have a child. Women should be able to exercise agency over their bodies, not the State, society or religion. To be able to decide what to do with your body, and control your reproductive system, is a fundamental right that should not be regulated by the State.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to feminist blogger and Philosophy student Sahir Pujols<\/a> [ES] people must first define when life begins:<\/p>\n

Reflexiones sobre la limitaci\u00f3n de la mujer ante un evento como el de reproducir una criatura. Estas limitaciones, si es que deben de existir, no pueden estar basadas en la concepci\u00f3n de un credo religioso fundamentalista, sino sobre las reflexiones de cu\u00e1ndo comienza la vida y el uso de la libertad. Seg\u00fan las investigaciones de la neurobiolog\u00eda del feto, rese\u00f1adas por el bioeticista y neurocient\u00edfico Michael Gazzaniga, se puede concluir que podemos conceder una categor\u00eda \u00e9tica al feto desde el sexto mes de gestaci\u00f3n. \u00bfCu\u00e1l es el criterio para hacer este se\u00f1alamiento? El desarrollo del sistema nervioso con el cual el feto comienza a experimentar estados de conciencia.<\/p>\n

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Reflections on the limits of a woman before an event such as the reproduction of a child. These limits, if they must exist, should not be based on the belief of a fundamentalist religious creed, but rather on a reflection on when life begins and the use of freedom. According to research by the neurobiologist Michael Gazzaniga, we can conclude that we can give an ethical category to the fetus beginning on the sixth month of gestation. What are the criteria used to reach this conclusion? This is when the nervous system develops, by which the fetus starts to experience states of consciousness.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Blogger Michael Castro has a different take<\/a> [ES] on the abortion debate:<\/p>\n

Como cristiano estoy en contra del aborto. Considero que es un crimen un asesinato de una inocente criatura que no tuvo culpa de ser concebido. A\u00fan as\u00ed entiendo a la mujer violada que quiera hacerse un aborto y no puedo decir que sea un crimen en aquellos casos donde la vida de la madre est\u00e1 en eminente riesgo. Le\u00ed Roe vs Wade y tampoco puedo estar en desacuerdo con el razonamiento de la Corte Suprema, cada mujer tiene pleno derecho a hacer con su cuerpo lo que desee y el Estado no puede coartar ese derecho\u2026Como todo en la vida los derechos pueden ser abusados\u2026 Menores de edad usando el aborto como m\u00e9todo para controlar la natalidad. \u00bfQu\u00e9 pas\u00f3 con la educaci\u00f3n sexual? \u00bfQu\u00e9 pas\u00f3 con los contraceptivos? \u00bfQu\u00e9 pas\u00f3 con el respeto a la vida?<\/p>\n

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As a Christian I am against abortion. I believe that it is a crime to kill an innocent child who is not responsible for having been conceived. Having said that, I also understand that a raped woman might want an abortion, and I cannot say it is a crime when the mother\u2019s life is in danger. I read Roe vs Wade, and I cannot be against the reasoning behind the Supreme Court\u2019s opinion that every woman has the right to decide over her body, and that the State cannot intervene in this\u2026As with everything in life, rights can also be abused\u2026There are minors who are using abortion to control natality. What happened with sexual education? What happened with birth control methods? What happened with the respect for life?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The photo was taken from Fotopedia<\/a>. Please visit PunkassPhotos photostream on Flickr<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 37th anniversary of the landmark United States Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade (January 22, 1973)\u00a0 spurred bloggers in Puerto Rico to express their opinions about a ruling that still sparks controversy. The decision made abortion legal in the United States, and it was extended to Puerto Rico due to the Island's political relationship […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4991,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-256168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4991"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256168\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}