Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Abortion in El Salvador= Death to women

NYTimes: In case any of you out there thought that the SD law of "outlaw all abortions w/no exceptions" is a good idea, check out how fabulously this kind of law has played out for females in El Salvador, which has such a law: "In El Salvador, the law is clear: the woman is a felon and must be prosecuted. After a doctor/ hospital suspects a woman of having had an abortion, the police are dispatched & investigators start procuring evidence of the crime. As they do in any investigation, the police collect evidence by interviewing everyone who knows the accused and by seizing her medical records. They must also visit the scene of the crime, which often means the woman's vagina. Sometimes the prosecutor orders a forensic doctor to perform a pelvic exam on a woman. In the event that the woman's illegal abortion went badly and the doctors had to perform a hysterectomy, then the uterus is sent to the Forensic Institute, where the govt's doctors analyze it and retain custody of her uterus as evidence against her." And what about ectopic pregnancies? "Laws that criminalize all abortions has a flip side. It appears to mandate that the full force of the medical team must save the fetus under any circumstances. This notion can lead to some dangerous practices such as during an ectopic pregnancy. A simple operation can remove the fetus before the fallopian tube bursts. After a rupture, though, the situation can turn into a medical emergency." My maternal grandmother nearly died from a hemorrhage when an ectopic pregnancy ruptured 2 yrs after my mom was born in the early 1950's. Fortunately for her, doctors were able to save her w/blood transfusions but a hysterectomy was performed. Is this what we females in the US will be facing? Is this the fate that awaits my 3 yr old daughter? A life of infertility and/or incarceration because of a zealot's twisted decree that a fetus-- no matter how viable it may be or may not be-- must be forced to "live" against the wishes, wants, and needs of a walking, talking, thinking, feeling, and breathing female?
Posted by Tina :: 12:41 AM :: 2 Comments:

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