I just discovered that in England and Wales a maternal request cesarean “is not on its own an indication” for surgery. What kind of a barbaric policy is it to push a woman into pain and suffering of vaginal childbirth against her own will? Can a country call itself civilized while claiming that a woman is not allowed to choose her method of delivering a child from her own body?

Don’t the so-called medical professionals who come up with reasons to prevent women from choosing the method of giving birth that suits them best realize that a woman who doesn’t want a vaginal delivery will develop every symptom under the sun that will allow her to qualify for a scheduled C-section? This is what my sister went through to guarantee that her wish for an elective cesarean was taken into account. This took place in Quebec where she was bullied by nasty, irresponsible doulas to reconsider and deliver vaginally while she was already in labor. You really have to be a monster to bully a woman in such a situation. (And then she was further bullied by “lactation activists.” And by crazy nurses who insisted the baby be awakened in the night to be fed when she was very obviously not hungry. The amount of bullying women undergo whenever they try to give birth is overwhelming.)

The anti-cesarean movement that claims you are not a woman until you have really suffered and had your vagina torn to shreds is gaining ground everywhere in the world. It’s sad to see that the UK still considers its female population to be incapable of making even the most basic decisions about their own bodies.