Why limiting abortion?

By Romel V. Rodriguez

Early this month, the movie Sunshine, directed by Antoinette Jadaone and starring Maris Racal, was released in Philippine cinemas, and a familiar idea rose again after one of the characters, Mary Grace, a 13-year-old girl impregnated by her abusive uncle: Abortion should be allowed for victims of child trafficking and rape. At first, this may sound compassionate. Of course, we all want to help those who have gone through terrible suffering. However, the main issue with limiting abortion to only such cases is that it sets unfair conditions on a woman’s right to choose. The film makes us see why this kind of “middle ground” is not really fair or humane.

This is the problem with the argument. It assumes a woman’s right to decide on her body depends only on how she got pregnant. The message is clear but unfair. If you were raped, then you can choose. If not, then you’ll just have to suffer with your mental health, struggle financially, and put your personal dreams on hold. How can that be right?

Why should a woman have to be abused or trafficked just to gain control over her own body? Freedom to decide should not be a prize for suffering. It should be a basic right for everyone. To say otherwise is not justice. It is punishment disguised as morality.

Sunshine also shows how this way of thinking creates stigma. It makes abortion look like something only for women in the most desperate situations. It is no longer treated as a real healthcare decision. Survivors are forced to relive their trauma just to prove they deserve an exception. Imagine being asked to tell every detail of your rape in court just to get medical help. That is not compassion. That is cruelty covered in paperwork.

In truth, limiting abortion to “special cases” only hides people’s discomfort with full reproductive freedom. It tries to sound reasonable, but sacrifices the main principle. Sunshine’s story depicts that unwanted pregnancy regardless of whether you are a victim of violence or not, being denied a choice is already a form of oppression. Every woman has the right to make decisions about their own body without interference. We should support women with more than compassion. They need resources. We should stop our selective empathy, empathy that has conditions, because the moment we start deciding which women deserve to control their lives, we have already lost the fight for equality.