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woman dies after doctors deny her a life-saving abortion moondog Send a noteboard - 14/11/2012 06:58:31 PM
this is the exact kind of situation that many anti-abortion folks insist is such a rare occurrence that we should not provide exceptions for it. so i ask those on this board who feel that abortion should always be illegal no matter what: is it worth it to you and your ideals that both the baby and the mother have died even though the procedure could have spared her life?

"This is a Catholic country," was what Irish doctors told Savita Halappanavar after she learned she was miscarrying her pregnancy and asked for an abortion to avoid further complications. She spent three days in agonising pain, eventually shaking, vomiting and passing out. She again asked for an abortion and was refused, because the foetus still had a heartbeat.

Then she died.

She died of septicaemia and E Coli. She died after three and a half days of excruciating pain. She died after repeatedly begging for an end to the pregnancy that was poisoning her. Her death would have been avoided if she had been given an abortion when she asked for it – when it was clear she was miscarrying, and that non-intervention would put her at risk. But the foetus, which had no chance of survival, still had a heartbeat. Its right to life quite literally trumped hers.

US politicians and "pro-life" advocates like Joe Walsh will tell you that there are no circumstances under which women need abortions to avoid death or injury. The Republican platform doesn't include an exception for medically necessary abortion. And the Republican party is trying to put laws similar to those in Ireland on the books in the United States – laws that would allow emergency room doctors to refuse to perform abortions, even in cases where the pregnant woman's life or health depends on terminating the pregnancy. The GOP isn't exactly the most science-friendly or fact-reliant crowd in the world, but to them, women like Savita either don't exist or just don't matter. As Jodie at RH Reality Check writes:

"These are the lives of your sister, your mother, your daughter, your aunt, your friends, and your colleagues. These are the lives at stake. These are the very people that the fanatical anti-choice and religious right see as 'not people'.

They are all Savita Halappanavar.

We are all Savita Halappanavar.

But we do not have to die at the hands of misogynists.

In honour of Savita Halappanavar; in honour of the nearly 22 million women worldwide each year who endure unsafe abortion; in honour of the 47,000 women per year worldwide who die from complications of unsafe abortion and the estimated 10 times that number who suffer long-term health consequences; in honour of the millions of women who do not have access to contraception, who have no control over whether and with whom they have sex or whether or with whom they have children, we can fight back. In honour of the young girls married young and the women forced to bear children long past the point they are able to care for more … for all these women, we must continue to act, to liberalise abortion laws, ensure every woman has access, remove the stigma, and trust women, like Savita, who know when it is time to end even the most wanted pregnancy."

Just two months ago, a consortium of Irish doctors got together to declare abortion medically unnecessary. They claimed that abortion is never needed to save a pregnant woman's life, and stated: "We confirm that the prohibition of abortion does not affect, in any way, the availability of optimal care to pregnant women."

I'm pretty sure Savita Halappanavar would disagree. I'm pretty sure she didn't get optimal care.
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woman dies after doctors deny her a life-saving abortion - 14/11/2012 06:58:31 PM 1318 Views
this is so terribly sad. keeping abortions legal is important. *NM* - 14/11/2012 07:09:00 PM 252 Views
Maybe this is more a testament to the quality of care in that hospital than an arguemnt for abortion *NM* - 15/11/2012 01:49:00 PM 268 Views
Can you elaborate? - 16/11/2012 04:07:48 PM 506 Views
Do you have access to her medical charts? - 16/11/2012 08:44:45 PM 518 Views
Statistically speaking... - 15/11/2012 07:03:51 PM 538 Views
Where did you get your statistics from? - 15/11/2012 09:19:29 PM 777 Views
Psst. - 15/11/2012 09:43:35 PM 569 Views
I'm pretty sure his 0.3% figure comes from - 15/11/2012 10:01:29 PM 484 Views
That would certainly change the difference between the numbers. - 15/11/2012 10:07:42 PM 547 Views
Re: Statistically speaking... - 15/11/2012 10:56:35 PM 522 Views
Where's the due process? - 15/11/2012 11:35:39 PM 601 Views
First, prove that the fetus is a "ONE". - 16/11/2012 04:14:34 PM 479 Views
That argument is specious - 16/11/2012 08:36:07 PM 496 Views
But you cannot call another living person an "environment." Only for parasites. - 16/11/2012 10:16:18 PM 459 Views
Yes I can, look up the word environment - 17/11/2012 11:49:55 AM 593 Views
No, I do not accept the risk of pregnancy. - 20/11/2012 01:41:07 PM 471 Views
Re: No, I do not accept the risk of pregnancy. - 20/11/2012 03:59:19 PM 479 Views
well said - 20/11/2012 05:27:11 PM 579 Views
I agree, but it does not matter. - 16/11/2012 08:26:17 PM 470 Views
Win some, lose some - 15/11/2012 11:29:32 PM 633 Views
In other words, if you don't want to die, become a lesbian. *NM* - 16/11/2012 04:16:23 PM 266 Views
stop calling women whores - 16/11/2012 04:55:49 PM 563 Views

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