Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Meanwhile, in El Salvador, A Woman's LIfe/Health Is Worth Less Than Protecting A Nonviable Fetus


From Salon:

After more than a month of delays, El Salvador’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday to deny a critically ill woman a lifesaving abortion. The 22-year-old woman, identified only as Beatriz, is 26 weeks pregnant with a nonviable, anencephalic fetus; her doctors have warned that, due to severe health complications related to Beatriz’s lupus, cardiovascular disease and kidney functioning, she may not survive the pregnancy.
Abortion is illegal under all circumstances in El Salvador, and the court’s ruling is final, according to her lawyers. “The only way now is to go to the international courts,” Victor Hugo Mata, one of Beatriz’s lawyers, told CBS News.

You don't remove dying fishes from an aquarium just because the aquarium might break.   Duh.

That was the kindest way I could express my anger.  More about the court's ruling:

The judges voted 3-to-2 Wednesday to reject the appeal by the woman’s lawyers, who argued that continuing with the pregnancy puts her life at risk.
The court says physical and psychological exams done on the woman by the government-run Institute of Legal Medicine found that her diseases are under control and she can continue the pregnancy.

Yup.  The aquarium might not crack, after all, so no problem here.

More on the case here.  El Salvador does not allow abortion for ANY reason.