The Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC) has called a rally and lobby of Parliament for Tuesday, 20 November, to campaign for the repeal of the laws allowing. abortion. The International Marxist Group will be supporting a counter-demonstration organised by the Women's Abortion and Contraception Campaign (WACC).
Those who oppose the right to abortion make much of what they call the 'sanctity of life" They argue that abortion is u kind of murder, and insist that no woman has the right to deny life to a foetus in her body But this "sanctity of life" principle is a fraud. lt ignores the actual liring life of the woman trampling over her emotions and often desperate needs in favour of the merely potenrial life of the foetus.
Furthermore, it denies a woman the right lo control her own body's proccises, and de facte gives that right to someone eise namcly her husband or lover, In this way, a woman ix made a victim of her own body's capacity to bear children - especially if she is also denied the right to usc contraceptives, or if they fail for any reason.
But when Marxists support the right to free contraception on demand, the right of every woman to control her own body, we do not see it as just a question of this or thal picce of legislation. The utferly irrational position of organisations like SPUC cannol be understood in terms simply of this issue, but only in relation to the whole subordinale house wito-mother role aisgned to womien in capitaliest society. I is al this point that we part company with both those would be socialists who treal the struggle against women's oppression as a "middie cluss diversion trom the class strugite now (consigning it instead to some far-uff date after the revolution!), and those feminists who still seo the strugele for worgns Isheration as something essentully separate from the class strugale, with women occasionally and coincidentally finding themscives in alliance" with the "working class' (ie. male trade unionists). For it is the task of revolutionaries to transform the spontaneour strugde of the working class as it is into a consenvus struggle against capitalism by a working class acting for itself. The oppressed pusition of women in capilalist society is an integral part of capitalism per petuating through the family both capitalist Ideology and divisions in the working class In order to overthrow capitalism, the working class has to make the struggles ofall the oppressed its owni, Male chauvinism is as dangerous in the labour movement as racism. To deal with the ideology, however, it is necessary lo begin to lackle its material hasis. This is why we fight for the labour movement to support demands for creche facilitics and communal restaurants, as well as the right to free aborlion and contraception on demand. Big struggles. particularly those of national or general strike proportions, provide both the upportunity and the neurssity for the development of independent organs of the working class in this field as in others - to free working class wamen for the class struggie.
For those who still douht the political significanc of issues like abortion, we should note that fascism did not make the same mistake, In the pursuit of their politics, the Nazis made abortion illepal in Germany as part of a conscious Stale policy of reducing women 1o the status of 'maid and servant." Their policy was concisely stated by Wilhelm Frick, Minister of the Interior: The mother should be able to devote herself entirely to her children and ber family, the wife to the hushand. The unmarried fri should be dependent only on such necupabons as cortespond to the feminine type of being. As for the rest, employment should be viven over to the men. In this way, they carofelly nurtured the authoritarian patriarchal family, the man representing the State authorily within the fumily.
Those in the labour movement, and ewen to our shame in the revolutionary movement, who echo these sentiments in the practice of their dasly lives and in their ridicule of womca's liberation, must he confronted with the politcal pedigres of their ideas on women. We have to learn bow to meet the tireal posed by reactionary molilisations like that of SPUC against abortion, hy laking these issues into the labour movement as part uf a concerted campaign to contront male chauvinism in its ranks at cvory level and win the working class for the struggle to ond the oppression of womon.
Lawne White Police intervened to slence a 30-strong picket ou tside a mocting organised by the Society foe Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC) in Swansea last week. They also refused the pickets, who included members ot the IMG and IS eutrance to the meeting of some 500 SPUC sapporters. The picket resulted from a meeting al Swansea University, initiated by the local bennch nf the IMG.
This is the beginning of a continaing campaigo, An Ai-loc committee has beon ser ap, and a puhlic meeting was held in the University on Tuealay with a speaker from the Canadian wonens liberation mot ment, The was toloued by a areos pieket nutside ancthor SPUC meeting taking place in Swansca on the same day-