Consent-based language around the event we call 'giving birth'

General TW warning, but especially for detailed discussions of medical procedures performed without patient consent, and the word 'rape'.

We all know that our language has different words for sexual penetration based on whether it is performed with or without the consent of the recipient; 'sex' for consensual experiences, and 'rape' for forced events.

Similarly, I would love to see different words used to describe childbirth based on whether the pregnant person consented to staying pregnant until the birth.

I read an article about a pregnant asylum seeker (Ireland 2014) who insisted on getting an abortion, and was held against her will at a hospital. The article says she "gave birth via C-section at 25 weeks", but I assume that if she had been asked whether she wanted an abortion or a C-section, she would have asked for the less invasive abortion. We must assume that what really happened is that medical professionals forced her onto a surgical table without her informed enthusiastic consent, and cut her open to extract a living fetus from her body.

Breaking down the language farther:

- Saying that "SHE gave birth" implies that the childbirth event was hers to claim and own; hers to actively participate in, and have opinions about, and make changes to.

- The word "gave" usually implies that the person chose to part with something. If childbirth was an object, and it was taken from her without permission, we would not say that she gave someone the object, we would say that the object was stolen. In this case, she did not willingly "GIVE birth". Childbirth was forcibly extracted from her.

I chose an extreme example where the pregnant person truly had no power to seek alternate care, but I feel like the same non-consenting "childbirth" verbiage would be appropriate for anyone who tried to get an abortion and was unable to do so. If childbirth was not her chosen outcome, it's disgusting that our language forces us to ignore the trauma she might experience in her lack of full autonomy.

If you feel like any point I made was incorrect, feel free to discuss it. I'd rather be wrong here than be wrong while talking to a forced-birther.