Children's hospital in Albania, 1967

Discussion on Abortion rights in Socialist Albania

 

From "Albanian Life" No 25; No. 2, 1983

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Letter to the Editorial Committee of the "Albanian Life"

From: Margaret Arkwright, London NW3

     As a feminist who has long admired the achievements of Albania – not least in its efforts to bring about the emancipation of women I was shocked to gather from the story "A Woman's Heart", published in the last issue of ALBANIAN LIFE, that abortion on demand is not legal in that country.

     This places Socialist Albania behind many capitalist countries, where the right of a woman to control her own body is recognised in law - places its official stand on this question in line with that of the Catholic Church.

     A foetus is in no way a rational, self-conscious human being, and to equate abortion with murder is clearly absurd. Furthermore it has long been established that laws prohibiting abortion on demand merely drive women to back-street abortionists, all the dangers to health which this entails. which this entails.

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The Editorial Committee Replies:

     Albanian society is not based on the principle of maximising individual freedom irrespective of its effects on other human beings and on society as a whole. Ethics – the science of right and wrong in conduct – is seen as based on the interests of society.

     It is, of course, true that a foetus is not "a rational, self-conscious human being". Neither is a young baby, but few feminists uphold the right of a parent to kill a baby "on demand".

     As we understand it, the Albanian authorities see a zygote (a fertilised ovum), an embryo and a foetus as living organisms of the species Homosapiens; like a child, they represent a living human being at different stages of incomplete development. Birth is not, therefore, regarded as such a significant moral dividing line that the killing of a baby after birth is legitimate, while the killing of an unborn baby is legitimate. After all, a prematurely-born baby may be much less developed than a foetus at term.

     In slaveowning society, a slave was regarded as the property of the slaveowner, who had the legal right to have the slave killed "on demand". Socialist Albania does not recognise such property rights over other human beings, whether fully or incompletely developed.

     Certainly in capitalist societies it is impossible, for economic reasons inherent in the system, for many citizens to find work. Here, therefore, the birth of a large number of babies to the working class is regarded as "dangerous to the stability of society", and Malthusian sociologists refer constantly to the perils of "the population explosion". In Socialist Albania, however, where the right to work is guaranteed by the Constitution, every baby born represents a future worker who will increase the material and cultural life of society, a future soldier who can defend it and its achievements. Thus, in Albania the fact that the country has the highest birth-rate in Europe is a matter for rejoicing.

     As Albanian sociologists see it, therefore, the demand for abortion on demand reflects the social conditions of a capitalist society, and is inappropriate for a socialist society. This demand, they assert, is based on the fact that, under capitalism, the negative features of pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing may, in the eyes of the woman involved, outweigh in many cases the positive features. A socialist society, however, works to eliminate these negative features by the provision of paid pregnancy and maternity leave, of ample cheap housing (rents in Albania are equivalent to 3% of earnings), of creche and day nursery facilities for all. Its encouragement of the active role of the father in housework and child-care, and of the extended family, is also a factor in reducing the negative factors which may be associated with the birth of a child.

     Regarding abortion on demand as unethical in a socialist society, therefore, the Albanian authorities reject the argument that the negative factors which may be associated with the birth of child bring about, in a socialist society, the despair which leads to the activity of backstreet abortionists.

     Finally, Ms. Arkwright is incorrect in comparing the position of the Albanian authorities on abortion with that of the Catholic Church. The latter forbids abortion in all circumstances, while in Albania abortion is legal and indeed encouraged (as the story "A Woman's Heart" makes clear) where there are medical reasons that make it desirable. In other words, where circumstances force a choice between the health, and perhaps the life, of the mother and the life of the unborn child, the interests of the fully-developed human being are placed above those of the less-developed human being – just as, under Albanian penal law, to kill a man is regarded as ethical and lawful if it is carried out in necessary self-defence.

 

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https://www.marxists.org/subject/albania/albanian-life/issues/25-02.pdf