This is where fetal "personhood" inevitably leads
by digby
Here's a terrible story you probably missed in the last terrible week. Let's put it this way, if anti-abortion terrorists like Eric Rudolph and Scott Roeder have their way, America will be like this:
The 22-year-old mother of one, identified only as Beatriz, is four-and-a-half months pregnant, but her doctors have confirmed that the fetus has anencephaly (developing without a brain and certain parts of the skull) and that the pregnancy is nonviable. In addition to the fetal diagnosis, Beatriz is experiencing critical health complications related to her lupus and kidney disease.
The hospital treating Beatriz requested legal permission to perform the abortion more than a month ago, but authorities have still not agreed to let them proceed. Now, if government policy and religious ideology interfering with a woman’s right to access abortion care or a doctor’s ability to exercise medical judgment and save a woman’s life sounds familiar, it should.
As reported by Amnesty:
Doctor say Beatriz could die if she continues with the pregnancy, but have not yet treated her because they fear that if they end the pregnancy they might be prosecuted under the country’s total ban on abortion…
The country’s Penal Code states that anyone seeking or carrying out an abortion could be given a long prison sentence. This means both doctors and Beatriz would be at risk of imprisonment if a termination is carried out.
“Beatriz’s situation is desperate and must not wait any longer. Her very chances of survival depend on a decision from the authorities,” Esther Major, Amnesty International’s researcher on Central America, said in a statement.
Beatriz has taken her request for medical services to El Salvador’s Supreme Court, where it is currently being considered.
I'm fairly sure this proves just how unimportant women are to the anti-abortion zealots. If you believe the fetus is a person with the same rights as the body in which it resides, this is where it logically leads.
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