“No uterus. No opinion.” Said the famous F.R.I.E.N.D.S series character Rachel Greene, played by Jennifer Aniston, in the year 1994.
Today, in 2021, the Lebanese Parliament which consists of 128 members, of which only six identify as females, does not only make decisions and enact laws on the behalf of the uteri of Lebanese women, but also did not bother to modify the laws which impose sanctions on a woman’s decision to undergo an abortion.
Article 539 and the following of the Lebanese Penal Code, which dates back to 1943, stipulates a maximum penalty of two years for anyone who facilitates, publishes, promotes, or sells abortion-related materials. Moreover, there is a penalty of up to three years for each woman who performs an abortion with her consent, and a penalty of up to ten years for anyone who performs an abortion on a woman without her consent, especially if the matter leads to the woman’s death.
The table below shows the Abortion Lebanese Penal Code, Articles 539 through 546.
So what right does the Lebanese Parliament have in enacting laws regarding abortion, when the Ministry of Education in Lebanon has not imposed sexual education in the curriculum, subsequently denying the fact that most of the Lebanese youth, or even adults, do not have sufficient information on the matter?
However, the most prominent article of The Abortion Lebanese Penal Code, is article 545, which states “The woman who aborts herself to save her honor, and the guilty person under Articles 542 and 543 who acts with the purpose of saving the honor of his descendant or relative to the second degree, shall benefit from a mitigating excuse.”
In the 21st century, where abortion is broadly legal in 65 countries, the Lebanese Government, according to article 545, still believes that the honor of a family, a village, and a male, emerges from between a woman’s thighs.
It is time The Lebanese Government starts enacting laws based on logic and human-rights, rather than on the myth of “honor”, fragile masculinity and religious beliefs. The right to legal and safe abortion is a human right, and should be up to no one but the woman. It is her body, it is her choice, period.
It is time women stop accepting anyone, including governments and laws, to own their bodies on their behalf. It is time to start initiating action in making abortion legal in Lebanon.
In conclusion, I repeat, “No uterus, no opinion.”, and if you got a uterus and do not support abortion, do not be a stone in the way of those who acknowledge and seek to gain this human right.
Sources:
“Women’s Right to Abortion in Lebanon”/ A Position Paper by Nasawiya Written by Saja Michael and Edited by Rola Yasmine/ https://theaproject.org/sites/default/files/Newest-Abortion-Position-Paper.pdf
“Moral Work and the Construction of Abortion Networks: Women’s Access to Safe Abortion in Lebanon”/ Health and Human Rights Journal/ https://www.hhrjournal.org/2019/12/moral-work-and-the-construction-of-abortion-networks-womens-access-to-safe-abortion-in-lebanon/
