Miscarrying woman denied an abortion dies in Ireland

Source

1) This is fucking disgusting.
2) Study reports on the effects of women being denied abortions. Turns out, it's a financial burden and can have health consequences. Filed under: no fucking kidding.

This is her, btw...



Disgusting that they'd do that shit to her.

What disgusts me the most is Ireland's anti choice groups deny that the laws had anything to do with it.

Really a deplorable situation. How this can happen in such a developed country is beyond me. All because of a 19th Century English law on the books and the lack of political will to change it.

its religion...look at history and how long it takes to changes views and opinions based on religion...

Revolting.

Also, cruelly ironic: in "backwards" third world India, it would have been legal for her to receive an abortion under these circumstances.

Another revolting thing: reading some of the comments at the bottom of the articles for this story .

Fucked. Up.

Hopefully we won't go too far off topic...

That's formally true but the reality for most women here (I've been in India doing research since September 1st) is that they don't have access to safe, affordable abortions. See what a Fulbright scholar had to say about the situation here or read about what some rural women say about their access to abortion here. As a consequence of the stigma attached to, and issues surrounding abortion and sexuality in general, around two thirds of abortions aren't done legally in India.

India is hardly leading the way on women's rights, evident by the fact that ultrasounds for the purpose of identifying the gender of a fetus are illegal due to sex-selective abortions. Of course, people can get around that legal limitation if they convince the doctor that they want an ultrasound for reasons other than gender determination, but it clearly highlights a problem underlying the relatively low value of women and girls in Indian society.

Regardless of the status of abortion in India, though, this really shouldn't have happened in a developed nation.

^^^ All of that is true, but none of it addresses my point: if Mrs. Halappanavar had been in her home country she would have been legally entitled to a lifesaving abortion, while in Ireland - a developed Western country - she was not.

The fact that Ireland's laws are more regressive than those of India - a nation with a dismal record on women's rights issues, as you've noted - is shameful.

Agreed. I was just using the opportunity to point out that while the problem occurred in Ireland, the underlying problem of rampant sexism influencing policy is very much still the case in India. A lot of work needs to be done here - even if it wouldn't have saved Mrs. Halappanavar in this specific tragedy.

In other words, abortion law in Ireland, independent Ireland, is still determined by British law and, to boot, its a law that doesn't even apply in Britain any more as indicated below...

"This is a Catholic country."

That's what the "doctors" told her.

And yes... it matters.

I feel absolutely saddened whenever I read that lady's story. If she had lived, I cannot imagine how traumatized she would be after losing her baby and going through all that pain.

And what's really sad about the whole thing is that, at only 17 weeks, the fetus would die anyways once the mother died. If my handy dandy math skills are correct, that's only 4 months and a week into the pregnancy. This means that the fetus would be far too underdeveloped to stand a chance of survival if it was removed.

So, sadly, because religion-based laws make it so that (as they said in Monty Python) "every sperm is sacred," you get not only one death (the fetus) but two.

Just like if a raped woman gets pregnant. Welcome to the beginning of the Second Dark Age...

Its a Catholic thing Charlie.
In Jewish law if a woman's life is in jeopardy because of a pregnancy abortion is mandatory. The potential life of the fetus is not as important as the life of the woman.

My god. That poor woman could have lived! So absurd!

MEPs sign letter calling for Irish abortion legislation

I always hear this argument whenever a crisis has occurred (the pro-life movement related to the Terry Schiavo case, gun control after the Aurora shootings, etc.). But isn't that the best time to have a debate and pass legislation (the ideal process)? It's during and the period immediately following these crises that presents the best motivation for both sides to discuss the issue. While the media is reporting on the issue, the people are actually able to follow the situation, form their own opinion, and inform their representatives of their desires. To make the argument that "now isn't the time" is simply to shelve the issue for another day (meaning preferably never, unless it's politically expedient).