Woman Dies After Being Denied Abortion: When Religious Rules Trump Science

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/woman-dies-after-being-denied-abortion-when-religious-rules-trump-science


Picture received from the Irish Times on November 14, 2012 shows Indian national Savita Halappanavar, who died after allegedly being refused a termination of her pregnancy at a hospital in Galway, western Ireland.
Photo Credit: Via Irish Times


Savita Halappanavar, who died in Ireland after being denied a pregnancy termination, was a young wife eager to have more children when she learned that her pregnancy went wrong.

A Hindu, she organized celebrations for her expat community in Galway, one of Catholic Ireland’s more liberal cities.

Even as she begged the hospital to abort her doomed pregnancy, suffering and in horrible pain, they refused to do so until the fetal "heartbeat" faded away, telling her, “this is a Catholic country.”


From the Irish Times article , here is her husband’s account of the tragedy:

“Savita...was very upset, but she accepted she was losing the baby. When the consultant came on the ward rounds on Monday morning Savita asked if they could not save the baby, could they induce to end the pregnancy. The consultant said, ‘As long as there is a foetal heartbeat we can’t do anything’....

The consultant said it was the law, that this is a Catholic country. Savita [a Hindu] said: ‘I am neither Irish nor Catholic’ but they said there was nothing they could do.

“That evening she developed shakes and shivering and she was vomiting. She went to use the toilet and she collapsed. There were big alarms and a doctor took bloods and started her on antibiotics.

“The next morning I said she was so sick and asked again that they just end it, but they said they couldn’t.”

[dsc]

1. This type of thing is the only thing I fear about government paid for health care in the US

just what type of stuff would our right wing refuse to allow be part of health care? That said, our system is so bad now that no amount of fear would make me oppose government paid for health care.

[newfie11]

2. this is just horrible

Of course the wealthy can fly to another country to have this taken care of. Then at home maintain their religious piety over the peons.