Savita Halappanavar was a
31-year-old woman who moved from India to Ireland 4 years ago. She spent a week
in the University Hospital Galway before dying from blood poisoning. During the
time she was hospitalized, she, who was 17 weeks pregnant, was informed that
she was miscarrying. She went through a lot of pain and suffering during the 7
days of her stay in the Hospital and repeatedly asked doctor to finish her
pregnancy. However, the Hospital refused
her request arguing that the fetus still had a heartbeat and because “this is a Catholic country.”
Savita
was allowed to have an abortion almost 3 days after the fetus’ heartbeat
stopped, but it was too late. She was moved to an intensive care unit, but she
died of septicemia.
Although abortion is illegal in Ireland, the
Supreme Court of the country commanded to do it in case the mother’s life is in
danger during pregnancy; unfortunately, governments in Ireland have refused to make
that command legal, so hospitals rarely obey this order.
I think it is really unfair for women to not
have the right to decide for their own lives, especially when the fetus has no
chance whatsoever to survive and puts in danger the mother’s life. Moreover, I
believe it is not fair to argue that because of religious reasons Savita was
not allowed to end her fetus’ life. Why, if not everybody in the world shares
the same religion, do societies have to be so influenced by one?
What do you
think of Savita’s case?
It is a horrible thing that happened to Savita, I strongly believed that women are allowed to decide what to do with their bodies. I support abortion when the mother's life is in danger, and I also support abortion when you know that your child is not going to have a proper life or when you know that the child is not going to survive because you have a terminal disease. It is stupid to say "no" to an abortion using religion as a reason, you may not share the same beliefs and you shouldn't take the Bible so literally.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Francisca. Risking someone's life because of religion seems absurd in these days, especially in Savita's case. I'm utterly convinced that if she asked the doctors to finish their pregnancy, it was because of the suffering she was going through, not because she did not want to be a mother. Sometimes believers may think that their religion outweighs people’s decisions even in extreme cases like Savita’s.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Francisca and Pia. I strongly believe in the liberty of choice, since we are the owner of our lives and therefore, our bodies. Savita's case is just another evidence of how narrow-minded our society is: "Yes, let this woman die because our religion says abortion is not right". Sometimes I think that when religion turns into fanaticism or when religion makes people blind, we have serious problems, just like in this sad story.
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