In another storyline showing that abortion is not restricted to the poor; the ones having affairs with married men or young women who have dreams to chase, Gomora has brought an interesting storyline on abortion.

Married and well settled woman, Gladys, recently found out that she is pregnant with her husband’s child. Prior to finding out that she was pregnant, she accidentally killed her husband’s son in her attempt to avenge her brother’s death by the son’s thug family (actually, his grandmother). She set the family’s tavern alight, unbeknownst that her husband’s son was in there.

At first sight, one could assume that she cannot bare a child because she still feels guilty about the murder and feels she can’t handle pregnancy with her secret. However, as it has recently become clear, this woman did not want any of the parasites that her body hosted, including the one she kept; Ntokozo.

Again, this is a beautiful storyline because it challenges the dominant narrative on abortion being a last resort that a woman takes when she has no other option. She is married and well off after all. The fact that a woman in her position is considering and fighting to have the option to abort the pregnancy freely shows that abortion in relationships and marriages is not uncommon. If anything, it actually shows that pregnancy does not equate to being ready for parenthood, which is something we take for granted. For some people, having a stable family and financial structure takes away the need to want to consider your ‘options’ when you discover that you are pregnant. This is reflected in her helper’s shock when told that she (Gladys) wants to terminate the pregnancy!

Her husband, Melusi is quite the hypocrite. Unfortunately for him, Twitter did not let his hypocrisy slide without analyzing it and noting a few things. The biggest argument of this man is that his wife is a woman and bearing a child comes with the gender responsibility, which she questions. Beautiful job. Again, this man has been cheating with his ex, meaning he has been neglecting Gladys. Keeping a pregnancy while he is out there having the best time of his life is likely to add more resentment to the situation from her side, since she does not want the baby to begin. One tweep even commented that he is not that good a father to the existing son yet he is pushing for her to be pregnant!

 

 

 

 

 

Abortion does not affect one party in the relationship. As seen in Generations the Legacy and Imbewu the seed, the relationships don’t survive abortion without a dent. For some people, having an abortion while their intentions are to stay with you and support you and the child is equivalent to terminating the relationship. That is fine, it cannot be dismissed. However, I find that more sensible reasons against abortion need to made. Reasons that are not rooted in sexism and patriarchy.

The fact that she is willing to lose her marriage than keep a child she does not want is quite a powerful agency! Sometimes the only reason not to be a parent should be that you don’t want to!

Thoughts?

Thank you for reading!