This week a woman in the United States was sentenced to 20 years in prison for having an abortion. It is still disputed whether Purvi Patel actually had an abortion, as no trace of abortion pills was found in her blood work. She claimed she had a miscarriage and gave birth to a stillborn. Yet despite this, she has been charged with neglect of a dependent and feticide.

I, like many others, felt sick at the sight of the headlines and the images showing Purvi Patel leaving court, handcuffed. I didn't read about the case for days, dreading the all too familiar feeling of hopelessness and rage that the articles would incite. My angry words do not do justice to the details. Patel was charged on two accounts: foetal homicide and neglect of child. These charges are completely contradictory. Feticide means the baby is born dead, yet it must be alive to have been neglected. The feticide law Patel has been charged under was originally established to prosecute illegal abortion providers. This law is now playing a major role in the increasing criminalisation of pregnant women in the US. 

This is reminiscent of cases in other countries that actively endorse an anti-woman abortion law, such as my homeland, Ireland. Abortion is illegal in Ireland except in cases where the woman's life is at risk. It is illegal in cases of rape and incest. In 2012 Savita Halappanavar was denied an abortion while suffering a miscarriage and she subsequently died of blood poisoning in Galway. Miss Y, a pregnant young migrant woman who arrived in Ireland in 2014, had been raped in her country of origin. She attempted to travel to the UK for an abortion but was arrested. She was suicidal and went on hunger strike. She was forced to undergo a Cesarean section. A pregnant brain-dead woman's body was recently used as an incubator against the wishes of her family. The 8th amendment, (which states that the life of the foetus is equal to the life of the pregnant woman) isn't saving lives; it's taking them away. 

Progress doesn't look promising. In February 2015, the Irish government voted against a bill proposing the right to abortion in cases of Fatal Foetal Abnormality. This means that Irish women are being forced to travel abroad to England, Scotland, Wales or elsewhere to abort wanted babies that are not viable outside the womb. They have to bring home their babies' remains on a Ryanair flight. Of course, many women do not have the resources to fund the travel and abortion, all of which can cost up to £2000.

This is happening today, right now, in wealthy countries that the international community deem representative of free societies. Women, particularly women of colour, are dying and being thrown in prison as a result of the state claiming authority over their bodies.

We need to face this for what it is: a violation of human rights fueled by misogyny. In every country in which choice over one's bodily autonomy is infringed, reproductive rights are being violated. Reproductive rights are women's right and, as a very powerful woman once said, women's rights are human rights. Call the law its name: sexist. Call out these governments for taking away our human rights. Shame them for it. Our anger is justified and it is useful. Those in power need to hear it. 

Links to take action:

http://deepaiyer.me/2015/04/01/outraged-about-purvi-patel-case-things-to-do-now/ 

http://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/

http://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/repealthe8th/