El Salvador Supreme Court denies critically ill woman lifesaving abortion

[Judi Lynn]

El Salvador Supreme Court denies critically ill woman lifesaving abortion
Wednesday, May 29, 2013 05:51 PM CDT

Lawyers for the 22-year-old woman may appeal the case in an international court, but fear for her survival

By Katie Mcdonough

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.

As Salon has previously reported, in addition to petitions from Beatriz and her doctors, President Mauricio Funes, El Salvador’s Ministry of Health, women’s rights advocates and international human rights groups each called on the court to grant the medically necessary procedure.

But the court was not moved to act, and Beatriz’s life now hangs in the balance, her lawyers say.

“The Supreme Court is saying Beatriz is not in danger and she must pursue the natural way of delivery and we must see what happens,” Mata told CBS. ”Everyday, the health of Beatriz is getting worse. If they wait another week or two weeks, she will be too feeble to endure the operation.”

http://www.salon.com/2013/05/29/el_salvador_supreme_court_denies_critically_ill_woman_lifesaving_abortion/

(Short article, no more at link.)

[Ilsa]

1. They don't love babies. They love irrational doctrine.

And they don't care that someone else's wife or sister will die because of their illogical and insane religious beliefs made up by some old wife-less fart in another country.

[Judi Lynn]

2. SALVADORAN COURT DENIES ABORTION TO AILING WOMAN, CITING STRICT PROHIBITION

SALVADORAN COURT DENIES ABORTION TO AILING WOMAN, CITING STRICT PROHIBITION

Posted on May 29, 2013 at 9:32 PM
Updated today at 9:33 PM
c.2013 New York Times News Service

MEXICO CITY — El Salvador’s highest court on Wednesday denied an appeal from a woman with a high-risk pregnancy to be allowed to undergo an abortion, upholding the country’s strict law banning abortion under any circumstances.

Beatriz, a 22-year-year-old woman who asked that her last name be withheld to protect her identity, has lupus and related complications that doctors say will get worse as the pregnancy, which is in its 26th week, continues, possibly leading to serious illness or even death.

Her fetus, which has anencephaly, a severe birth defect in which parts of the brain and skull are missing, has almost no chance of surviving after birth, leading her doctors to urge an abortion to protect Beatriz’s health before it deteriorates further.

But in a 4-1 ruling, the court cited the country’s legal “impediment to authorize the practice of abortion,” and ruled that the “the rights of the mother cannot be privileged over those” of the fetus.

More:
http://www.khou.com/news/world/209442761.html

[Socialistlemur]

3. Am I confused? I thought the government was leftist

I thought their government was leftist. If they are indeed then what the hell are they doing? Or is the church so powerful they don't dare try to pass reasonable pro choice legislation?

[Judi Lynn]

4. These pro-lifers are fine when women die

Thursday, May 30, 2013 09:37 AM CDT
These pro-lifers are fine when women die

El Salvador's strict abortion laws mean a woman's likely to die. Laws in other countries, and here, aren't better

By Mary Elizabeth Williams


[font size=1]
Women stand chained together outside the Supreme Court during a protest in San Salvador May 15, 2013.
(Credit: Reuters/Ulises Rodriguez)[/font]

This is the culture of life that abortion foes are trying to protect: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of El Salvador upheld, by a 4 – 1 vote, its strict ban on abortion, refusing to allow a 22-year-old woman to end her pregnancy. That woman, and her baby, are likely now going to die.

The woman, known only Beatriz, is 26 weeks pregnant and has been suffering from lupus and kidney problems, which have worsened as her fetus has grown. The baby, meanwhile, has anencephaly – a developmental disorder in which parts of the brain and skull are missing. In affirming its decision, the court declared that “the rights of the mother cannot be privileged over those” of the fetus. One of Beatriz’s lawyers, Víctor Hugo Mata, said: “The court placed the life of the anencephalic baby over Beatriz’s life. Justice here does not respect the rights of women.”

El Salvador is far from the only place in the world where a fetus – even a non-viable one – takes precedence over the health and life of a woman. In Ireland right now, new obstetric emergency procedures are being implemented and new laws protecting the lives of mothers are finally being debated, following the brutal death of of Savita Halappanavar and her baby in a Galway hospital last fall. Amnesty International this month called Ireland’s strict current abortion policy “out of line with international human rights standards.”

More:
http://www.salon.com/2013/05/30/these_pro_lifers_are_fine_when_women_die/