| Savita |
Some of you may have heard of the case of Savita Halappanavar
I've been following the story for the past few days and felt compelled to write about it
Savita (31) and her husband Praveen (34) moved from their native India to Ireland in 2008
They settled in Galway in the west of Ireland
He was an engineer and she was a dentist
They had laid down firm roots
Savita fell pregnant but on the 21st of October at 17 weeks pregnant, she presented as Universtiy College Hospital complaining of back pain
The couple were told that the baby would not survive the pregnancy and her cervix was already dilating and she would miscarry
Savita was sent home and told that she would miscarry within a few hours
At home her condition deteriorated and Savita and her husband returned to the hospital to ask for an abortion
They were told that this was impossible as the is a 'catholic country' and it is the 'law of the land' where abortion is illegal unless the mothers life is in danger, including threat of suicide
And because the doctors could still detect a foetal hearbeat they refused to preform an abortion
Again Savita was sent home
For the next 3 days she was in agony as her body tried to miscarry the baby
It wasn't until October 24th that the foetus was removed
During the miscarraige Savita contracted an infection and she died from septicaemia on October 28th
Since the story broke there has been an outcry in this country
The law regarding abortion here is a very grey area
A legal limbo
It is illegal and an abortion can only be preformed if the life of the mother is in danger
If a foetal heartbeat is detected, they wait until the heart stops beating until the preform the abortion
Abortion has been a hot button topic in this country for years but no concrete legislation has ever been drawn up
It is tragic that it has taken a woman's death to highlight this issue
My own opinion is that cases should be treated individually
Everyone's case is different and unique and therefore every case needs an individual solution
20 years ago our country dealt with a case called the 'Miss X case'
'Miss X' was a 13 year old girl who became pregnant after she was raped
Understandably she wanted to have an abortion
The arguments went on for weeks and she was eventually given permission to travel to England for an abortion
But only because she threatened to commit suicide
The government in this country have avoided this issue for far too long
They need to lay down a law once and for all
A clear concise law
Personally I think it's the woman's right to choose
And most definitely if the mothers life is at risk, then isn't it common sense to preform an abortion
Damage limitation as it were
I've been listening to phone in shows on the radio about Savita's case
Woman after woman ringing in to share their experiences
I think abortion affects all woman as it is something we may possibly have to deal with some day
When I was in school my best friend fell pregnant
She was 14 years old
She had been going out with her boyfriend for a few months and he was the first person that she had sex with
I remember when we were walking to school in the mornings, she started to feel really sick
She was throwing up in the bushes
We suspected the worst and it was confirmed when she took a pregnancy test
We were 14, still children and didn't know what to do
We didn't tell anyone at first even though she was sick a lot
I remember seeing her one morning and she looked awful
Her face was bloated, her eyes were puffy from crying and she looked so tired
We decided to tell my mother first
But in fact she had already suspected that she was pregnant
I'm sure my mother was thankful that it wasn't me
She encouraged us to tell my friends mother
I'll never forget that day
Her mother freaked out to say the least
Her 3 older brothers came to the house and were extremely angry
Phonecalls were made and flights were booked to England
My friend had no say in the matter
Her mother made the decision for her
I remember the day before she left for England
I wrote her a letter to read on the plane
She was terrified
In school the rumours started
I defended my friend and tried to dispel them
But everyone knew that she was pregnant
My friend didn't tell me much about England
I think she just wanted to forget about it
Her life would have been so different if she had kept the baby
And what sort of life would the baby have had?
A difficult one I'm sure
I think it was the right thing to do in my friends case
Today she has a great life
Today that baby would be almost a teenager
What are your thoughts on abortion?
It's a sensitive subject. I can see abortion being justified, like with Savita's story.
ReplyDeleteBut abortion (if legal) might be abused, and lives will be taken unnecessarily instead of going with adoption type options.
I don't know. Interesting post though, really got me thinking.
Hope you are well xx
Thanks Melrose, it is a sensitive subject, I'm glad it got you thinking x
Deleteeveryone has a right to end their life or start a life as in fall pregnant right?
ReplyDeletei hate that its always the woman who ends up with all the shit it takes two people to have sex! sperm AND egg
i think people should make a decision whether or not they can give a baby one the basic human needs and two love if they cant then i think people should be allowed an abortion with informed consent (have sound reasoning as to what they are doing)
i never ever wanna have kids because i know i wouldnt be able to give them everything a baby should have i would be a terrible mother if i ever fell pregnant (touch wood i never will) i would abort the baby
xx
I would love to have children but I don't think I can have them. Also the responsibility of having a child scares me.
DeleteThis country really needs to sort out the law here so people are not put in these awful situations x
That's such a sad story. I believe it's a woman's right to choose, but there negatives to either side I guess. So I'm not really sure where I stand 100%, but regardless I think legalized abortion (can be) a safe & positive thing.
ReplyDeleteI had a pregnancy scare at 14, while in an abusive 'situation' (I don't like to call it a 'relationship'). I had a false-positive test and panicked, and while it ended up just being false, it gave me a lot of things to think about. Since then I've been ever-conflicted on the issue, but for a 'yes or no answer', I think it should be legal (which it is here).
Love you ruby. I hope you're okay. Xx
It is so sad Bella and even more so because it could have been prevented. It's a reflection of the state this country is in at the moment.
ReplyDeleteYes pregnancy scares really make us think about this issue, I think every case is individual and unique and should be treated that way.
Love you too dear Bella and I am ok, hope you are too x
thank you for posting this thought- provoking topic and sharing the tragic story of savita- i can't even begin to fathom this tragedy as the abortion laws in australia are so lax in comparison and i'm almost 100% certain this situation would have been handled in a completely different manner by a hospital here. i think the laws differ depending on what state you live in, but still are nowhere near as rigid as what you explained the laws to be in ireland. in south australia (where i'm from) a woman is freely able to have an abortion anytime up to (i think) 16 weeks and up to 20 weeks in a special clinic. personally i feel that leaving it for five months before deciding to abort is a little too long even though i strongly support freedom of choice and believe women should have the right to decide whether they bring a life into this world or not.
ReplyDeletein the past i've always thought that if i were ever to fall pregnant accidently i would without a doubt have an abortion purely because i am mentally a walking disaster and wouldn't be able to cope with the responsibility of raising a child nor would i want my child to have a 'fucked up' mum which is what i'd be currently. in many ways i still feel like a child myself- not in terms of maturity but more in the way that i'm scared to grow up and want to remain a little girl forever.
less than two months ago though all my established views on abortion and children were tipped on their head when i discovered i was ten weeks pregnant with an ectopic pregnancy after experiencing terrible pain in my stomach and heavy bleeding. i was informed that i would need emergency surgery to terminate the pregnancy because i had a lot of internal bleeding and my life was at risk. this all happened so fast that i didn't even really get a chance to process what was happening but for the 24 hours or so after it was confirmed that i was pregnant and before the surgery i had a sudden change of heart. like i said, i always thought for me abortion would be an easy decision to make, but knowing that i had a little life growing inside me that i had helped create made me feel very protective of the baby and deeply sad that i didn't have a choice whether to keep it or not. the baby was stuck in my left fallopian tube and had caused extensive damage so that had to be removed as well which means my fertility has now been reduced which also deeply saddens me because despite being a mental case now i had always hoped that in the future i'd be stable enough to be able to have a family with the right person.
the doctors suggested that at some stage i should look into freezing some eggs in case i need IVF in the future because after one ectopic there's a risk of having another and if my right tube needed to be removed as well then i would no longer be able to conceive naturally.
Deletesorry for my long-winded post but i suppose the point i'm trying to make in my rambling is that while you may think you know where you stand theoretically on an issue like abortion, it can be a totally different thing when actually faced with the decision in reality or furthermore if your right to choose is taken away due to medical complications. i strongly agree with you that every situation is unique and therefore requires an individual solution.
after my recent experience i have learnt not to take my fertility for granted and if i were to fall pregnant again (which i'm being extra careful about now)and the pregnancy was viable i don't think i could go through with an abortion despite my mental state. i would take it as a blessing that i was even able to have a normal pregnancy at all and would have to find some way of dealing i guess. in light of all this, it's interesting that while i was unknowingly pregnant i actually started to improve mentally. my doctor said that some women who have mental health issues can actually thrive while being pregnant because of the surge in 'feel good' hormones, namely progesterone.
anyway, thanks again for sharing this story. such a tragic and unnecessary death :(
love to you miss ruby xx
Wow, thank you so much for sharing this
DeleteI'm so sorry you had to go through that, it must have been a shock to find out you were pregnant and then to find out that it was an ectopic pregnancy must have been heart breaking. I wish I could give you a hug right now, you have been through a lot.
You make a really good point though, we might think we know where we stand on abortion but it's not until we find ourselves in a this situation that we truly know how we feel.
You are so very strong for coming through that, I hope you know that.
I don't think that I can have children, I haven't had a period in 10 years and I don't think my body would handle a pregnancy. I would love children though but I agree with what you said, right now I feel like a child myself and I know I couldn't raise a child the way it deserves to be raised.
You are an amazing person, I can tell you are so very strong, compassionate and caring
Take good care of you and thanks so much for telling some of your story x
That is such a dreadfully sad story :( Where I live in Australia, it is legal to get an abortion. It's such an interesting debate. My grandma fell pregnant with my Dad when she was barely 13. Obviously she was pressured by everyone to have an abortion, but her mother (my great grandma) refused and said that it would happen over her dead body. Without her, my Dad wouldn't be here today and neither would I! Another story, my best friend's mum was told to have an abortion after it was detected that the baby had severe deformities. She refused to have an abortion and her baby was born perfectly healthy- they had made a mistake!
ReplyDeleteComing from a religious background, I have been taught that a human life starts at conception and every baby should have a chance to live. The greatest tragedy is for the mothers who have an abortion: so many of them regret it afterwards and never recovery. Again another story, my aunty aborted a baby when she was 16 and her partner was on drugs. It messed her up for life and she tried to commit suicide many times.
The area I can understand is when someone is raped or the mother is at serious risk. What a horrific situation that would be... Also in Australia we have a fantastic public health system so if a young girl gets pregnant, the government would help pay for so much of the medical bills. I understand that this may be different in other countries. If you don't have the funds or support to keep the child or even carry it and give it up for adoption, I can understand why abortion might seem like the only choice.
My other concern (something that happens in australia) is teens can be so careless with their sexual activity and have the attitude, 'well, if something happens, I can just have an abortion'. I would never ever judge someone, but I don't think it should be taken lightly. These procedures do affect the mother both physically and emotionally, and can even cause problems when trying to fall pregnant in the future.
Basically all in all, I don't think I could ever get an abortion, as I know the mental aspects would haunt me the rest of my life. But at the screwed up place I am now, I understand people a lot more, and I would never ever judge a woman for getting an abortion. *strewth! that was a long answer :)
Thank you Destiny, you make some really good points
DeleteI think it really comes down to the mother and her situation
I think abortion should be legal but shouldn't be used as a form of contraception
I know when I was at school, every Monday morning someone would be at the doctor getting the morning after pill
It's great that you have clear laws in Australia
Here in Ireland abortion is in a legal limbo and this is why poor Savita died this week
Personally I can't say whether I would have an abortion or not. I wouldn't know unless I was in that situation but I would love children someday if I can have them but I'm not sure I can x
Yes, they should be legal. Poor Savita and her family... such a needless waste of life :(
DeleteI'm sorry that you don't know if you can have children :( I refuse to get checked out (i have a hate for doctors) but looks like the damage I have done over the past 5 years could make me infertile. I doubt I'd get to the stage of ever trying to have a baby anyway. Maybe if I ever regain some normality I'll adopt :D
Hope you're doing well dear. And thanks for this post. It got me thinking about something other than my own issues xx
Your welcome Destiny, I know, I spend so much time thinking about me and my own problems that I forget that there are other people out there in a worse situation than mine
DeleteMuch love x
It's not an easy question, I'm for the woman's right to decide over her own body, but at the same time you're actually killing a person.
ReplyDelete/Avy
http://mymotherfuckedmickjagger.blogspot.com
♥
This is true Avy, it's an incredibly difficult decision for any woman to make x
ReplyDeleteI heard about Savita on Tumblr. It made me feel so angry for her and her family and husband and when I read about the Miss X case I actually threw up. They were going to force a 13 y/o rape victim to have a daily reminder of the attack for the rest of her natural life? That is inhumanly cruel.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is a woman's choice. It isn't just the life of the potential baby, it is her life too that is at stake. Making abortion illegal does NOT reduce the number of abortions that takes place, all it does is force woman to have unsafe ones that put their lives at even further risk. It's also completely unfair on a woman or the child to force her to raise a child she is not financially, physically or mentally able to care for appropriately. However if she is able to care for the child and wants it despite the cirmstances then she should be allowed to keep it. I know people who have dropped out of high school to keep their babies and people who have had abortions because they felt they weren't able to raise them properly and didn't want to send them into our fiasco of a foster system. It was their decision to make and NONE of them made it lightly.
It think it should be the woman's choice and nobody should deny her that choice or her right to make it. Nobody should be dictated to about what they have to do with their body and how and when they should risk their lives.
Men telling women what they should do with their lives and their bodies based on outdated patriarchal codes of shame make me absolutely fucking livid. I'm terrified at the rise in people who seem to be using The Handmaid's Tale as a guidebook instead of the warning a dystopia supposed to be. (Well, I guess if you were a highly-ranked guy in Gilead it was fucking utopia)
That was another opinionated rant for today. (I unleashed on Tumblr earlier at some self-help person who was basically kicking mentally ill people in the face for not being able to think themselves out of it) Ah, internet. Where would we be without you to challenge our thoughts and opinions?
Love you Ruby *hugs*
P.S.
ReplyDeleteFinally getting my lazy ass around to replying to comments XD
You and the pep talks from NaNo are PERFECT in your timing of reminding me to tell the inner editor to go fuck themselves. *Glomps* You are so right about how good it will feel to finish. I'm keeping that in mind and pushing on.
Omg we're a pair of Reverse Midas-es. But there is still good things about shit. Without heaping bags of horse shit then gardens everywhere would be really sad and lifeless. You need mounds of shit and compost to make a lovely thriving garden and grow good veggies.
Ahahahaha just you wait. Writing has gone to SHIT the last two days. So many little nasty trick to squeeze more words in. 'Twill be tidied up later. Necessary filler like hot air in a politician's head.
Thank you so much for your encouragement and support of this venture into wordsmithing. I don't think I would have made it this far without you *hugs*
I couldn't have put it better myself Peri, I completely agree it is the woman's right to choose what to do with her own body
ReplyDeleteIn some cases it is actually the responsible thing to do if they can not provide for the child financially and emotionally
Have you seen '16 and Pregnant'?
These girls lives were turned upside down and some of them are still children themselves
I thought the couple who gave their baby up for adoption were so brave and they did the right thing I think
You are so close Peri, only 10 more days to go
You are so going to do this and it will feel fucking amazing when you are finished
I'm going to read chapter 4 now, can't wait to see what happens to Path
Keep writing
Love you x
I think every case should be judged individually. If you were raped especially if you are young you should be allowed to have an abortion but if you just use it as a contraception method you should deal with the consequences. xx
ReplyDeleteI agree, thanks Lucie x
ReplyDeleteI think it can depend entirely on the situation.
ReplyDeleteI always thought I was against abortion (as in I thought I would never get one, not that I would ever judge another for having one) but then I had a pregnancy scare last year. I was 16, just broke up with my boyfriend, then realised my period was two months late. I was drinking too much at the time to know if I ever had morning sickness. Then my ex accidentally punched me in the stomach (he didn't know about the possibility of pregnancy) and the next day I bled badly, and then had a period like normal. To this day I still don't know if it was a miscarriage or just a late period (I think the chances that I was actually pregnant were extremely slim, it was so unlikely), but the fear I felt when I thought I was made me reconsider everything, I was so scared. If I'd been pregnant and kept it then I would have a four month old baby by now.
I'm not old enough or mature enough for a child. I can't look after myself, I literally can't even feed myself, the thought of another being completely in my care is terrifying.
But obviously it's not the same for everyone. There are girls at my school who had children when they were 13, and they're amazing mothers. I really think the responsibility of a child turned their lives around.
Every case should be treated individually.
It's such a tricky subject. My opinion always switches back and forth.
xx
It is a tricky subject, we may think one way about abortion but until we're in the situation where we have to make a decision we don't truly know what we would do
ReplyDeleteIf my friend who got pregnant had her child, he would be a teenager today. But I think you're right, in some cases it's the responsible thing to do
Thanks sweetie x