A pregnant, suicidal rape victim fought Ireland's new abortion law. The law won

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

A pregnant, suicidal rape victim fought Ireland's new abortion law. The law won

Anti-abortion activists claim that legal restrictions are in the best interests of women, but they never are

There is one thing that suicidal rape victims need: immediate assistance.But for one young woman in Ireland who was pregnant and seeking an abortion after reportedly being attacked, the only thing her government offered was the slow, bureaucratic violation of her humanity.

The unnamed woman, now 18, was reportedly raped as a minor and sought an abortion just eight weeks into her pregnancy. Even after experts found her to be suicidal – a prerequisite for abortion under a new Irish law – she was denied access to the procedure. According to a report by the Sunday Times, the woman, who is not an Irish citizen, believes that the government deliberately delayed her case – both through the state’s decision to ignore psychiatric experts and via her inability to travel because of her legal status – so that she would have to carry the pregnancy at least through the fetus’s viability. After going on a hunger strike, she was forced to undergo a caesarean section at just 25 weeks into her pregnancy.

That’s 17 full weeks after she first sought help.

That is not a policy; it’s a persecution. And now a country with a barbaric abortion ban that killed Savita Halappanavar in 2012 will be forced to reckon with the horror it has inflicted on yet another vulnerable woman.

...

Sarah McCarthy, a spokesperson for Galway Pro-Choice, told me that “even those who are entitled to an abortion under our severely restrictive legislation can still be denied that right”, and that the latest case highlights how vulnerable women are the most impacted by the law. Middle-class Irish women who have money to travel can leave the country for their abortions: “If you can’t afford to travel or don’t have the papers, it’s a nightmare,” she said. Again, this is also very much the case here in the US: if your county doesn’t have an abortion provider and you can’t afford the gas or time off from work to travel (sometimes out-of-state), procuring the procedure is near-impossible.

The other piece of this horrific puzzle is the questionable ethics of delivering a fetus at 25 weeks. As mother to a daughter who was born at 28 weeks, I’m well-versed in the nightmare scenarios of babies born too early. Preemies born before 26 weeks – sometimes called micropreemies – are at high risk for brain bleeds, cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness, necrotizing enterocolitis (when tissue in the intestines die off) and many other physical and mental disabilities. They also must endure serious invasive medical procedures, including surgeries, intubation, feeding tubes and central intravenous lines. And while the survival rates of young preemies has gone up in recent years, the chances of severe and lasting disabilities have not gone down.

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I understand that, to those who believe all abortion is unequivocally wrong, a suffering child might be better than no child at all – but that is not a decision best made by government flow-charts and distant bureaucrats, but by the family members involved.

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[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The American Taliban will be delighted about this story for this is precisely what they seek to achieve on these shores.

[_Simpson_ 250]

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Sad that you bring this up in this forum to simply get a rise.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Sad that you bring this up in this forum to simply get a rise.

I think it's a relevant issue to discuss given the political forces that want America to be just like that. It's important to know where it all ends. Of course, the American Taliban don't want to talk about that. They want to pretend that it is about life while it is really all about control.

[_Simpson_ 250]

Sure it is a relevant topic, but what exactly makes it a topic worth discussion under the given circumstances? This is a "get a rise" post, nothing more.

[decocker 7,198]

Sure it is a relevant topic, but what exactly makes it a topic worth discussion under the given circumstances? This is a "get a rise" post, nothing more.

are you suggesting that someone is aroused by this post?

[_Simpson_ 250]

are you suggesting that someone is aroused by this post?

I'm sure someone somewhere is cracking up.

Edited August 19, 2014 by _Simpson_

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I think the abortion law in Ireland, a supposedly first world country, is barbaric. It has taken what should be a personal decision for the individual and their family and turned it into an incompetent bureaucracy that has failed this woman in the worst way.

[_Simpson_ 250]

I think the abortion law in Ireland, a supposedly first world country, is barbaric. It has taken what should be a personal decision for the individual and their family and turned it into an incompetent bureaucracy that has failed this woman in the worst way.

The law was intended to allow woman under certain circumstances have abortions. Nothing barbaric there. The law would of helped this woman but due to the people involved in this situation it did not. Religion is a huge factor here. Also I don't believe that having a abortion is a personal decision between the individual and the family.

No need for you to worry though, many are crossing the border for their abortion.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The law was intended to allow woman under certain circumstances have abortions. Nothing barbaric there. The law would of helped this woman but due to the people involved in this situation it did not. Religion is a huge factor here. Also I don't believe that having a abortion is a personal decision between the individual and the family.

No need for you to worry though, many are crossing the border for their abortion.

Why is it not a decision for the woman and her family? Why should faceless bureacrats get to make the decision?

On the bolded - they shouldn't have to.

[decocker 7,198]

Also I don't believe that having a abortion is a personal decision between the individual and the family.

you're right. having an abortion should personal decision, but only between the pregnant woman and her doctor.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

you're right. having an abortion should personal decision, but only between the pregnant woman and her doctor.

Oh I agree. But I'd say the family should be in the picture somewhere if, as in this case here, there's mental illness or self-harm at work.

[decocker 7,198]

Oh I agree. But I'd say the family should be in the picture somewhere if, as in this case here, there's mental illness or self-harm at work.

i don't know. not all families would make decisions based upon the best interest of the woman.

[_Simpson_ 250]

Why is it not a decision for the woman and her family? Why should faceless bureacrats get to make the decision?

On the bolded - they shouldn't have to.

Because she could choose to have the abortion even if her life isn't in danger or some other serious condition. Abortion is a tough issue and no one rule fits all should be applied rather it be no abortions at all or always leave it to woman's discretion.

[_Simpson_ 250]

you're right. having an abortion should personal decision, but only between the pregnant woman and her doctor.

The outcome of this decision between woman and doctor should have no guidelines? This isn't a black and white issue.