Gibraltar for Yes - YGTV Q&A
In the run-up to tomorrow’s referendum on abortion, YGTV met with representatives from both campaigns. Rosalina Oliva and Selina Mellin from Gibraltar for Yes spoke to us about why they think people should vote to change Gibraltar’s abortion laws and other matters:
YGTV: In a nutshell why should people vote yes on Thursday?
Rosalina Oliva (RO from now on): Regardless of your beliefs or whether you would get an abortion yourself, people should know that abortions are taking place, women are travelling to access this service away from Gibraltar. These women are not receiving the support they need. The reason I am voting yes is because I believe women have the right to decide when and if they are ready to have children, I don’t think that society should decide what a woman’s role is; it is completely up to them.
Selina Mellin (SM from now on): Without this change, even more women will be turning elsewhere and while the abortions across the border are safe, some women will not be able to access these clinics due to transport or may not be able to afford it and so many choose to order tablets online. If this fails, the women face getting an infection and they have have no support and nowhere else to turn.
YGTV: The campaign has seen accusations and counter accusations of misinformation. What is Gibraltar for Yes’ view of these claims? In particular, the claim that abortions can happen up to 9 months?
RO: Gibraltar for Yes would like to say that this misinformation is quite dangerous and can be detrimental. Gibraltar for Yes has tried to dispel the rumours, myths and misinformation people are putting out there. We have been urging people to think for themselves and not rely on other people’s information, in particular with many people such as the Chief Minister and multiple healthcare professionals coming out and saying that abortions will not be available up to nine months.
YGTV: The pro-life campaign has been using the statistic that 1 in 5 pregnancies in England and Wales end in abortion. What is your reaction to this?
SM: I don’t necessarily think that this statistic is negative - it shows that women have this service available to them. Of course, women at any point of their life should be able to decide when and if they want to become mothers. You can’t be forced into motherhood. They claim that abortion is a life changing decision, but for me becoming a mother is an even bigger life changing decision - that child will be with you for the rest of your life.
RO: I don’t know of any woman who has had an abortion who has regretted it. In these statistics a woman may have had multiple miscarriages which result in an abortion, or a woman could be raped multiple times and then they are secretly having an abortion. These statistics are very broad as there is no detail to them, we also need to see that the 1 in 5 statistic is a UK statistic and in Gibraltar we have no data to back that up.
YGTV: Is it claimed that the new law allows “abortion on demand” because the mental health clause allows anything to be a reason one could have an abortion. What do you think about this?
RO: Abortion on demand does not exist. The notion that this is something that happens anywhere in the world is completely wrong.
SM: I think it’s offensive to women to claim that women will just line up to have abortions. Abortions in the early stage are not always traumatic, if it is a medical abortion it can be something you want that you don’t regret later on and you are able to carry on with your life. But at the end of the day it still involves a lot of emotions and is a difficult choice that no women takes easily so to claim that women will just wanted abortions and will have four a year is really offensive to women to suggest that this is what they are going to be seeking. The law also means this will not be possible.
YGTV: If abortion becomes legal in Gibraltar many say that women will need support afterwards. Anecdotally, Gibraltar’s mental health sector is already under a lot of strain - this might make seeking proper support difficult, what’s your opinion?
SM: We hope that with the passing of the law we are moving in the right direction. As at the moment there is nothing at all, and so we hope that certain structures will be put in place to support women. If the law does not pass, then the women will get no support at all so at least it is something. In the first few years it is all very new, and we may suffer teething problems. But we hope it progresses over time and the women will be getting all the support they require.
RO: Not every single woman who has an abortion will need mental health support afterwards. What is needed much more is the ability to speak about it openly, whether or not you need that support women should be able to talk about their experiences, without the stigma and shame surrounding the topic.
YGTV: If your campaign loses on Thursday, will you still continue to campaign to legalise abortion in Gibraltar? And what form will that campaign take?
SM: We hope that we won’t lose, we trust the Gibraltarian public to move Gibraltar in the right direction which is forwards and not backwards. But if we do lose, we know we won’t give up. I am sure we will all rally together to ensure that all women have the healthcare they require here in Gibraltar as they do in all parts of the world.
RO: If the vote does go ‘No’ on Thursday I ask the No campaign what they are going to do to stop abortions as women will continue to travel to have an abortion, as part of healthcare. And so it would be very backward of Gibraltar to vote ‘no’ as we cannot keep having the ‘not in my backyard mentality’ towards abortions. We urge everybody to vote, we are going to say that voting yes is the right way to vote. As it is the ethically, morally and scientifically the right way to vote as it is a human right.
YGTV published an interview with Save Babies, Vote No earlier today.
