News from Ireland: the high court has ruled that that unfortunate woman who was being kept “alive” after brain death because she was pregnant can – and in fact should – be allowed to die the rest of the way.
The woman’s family had asked the court to allow treatment to be withdrawn so she could be put to rest.
Doctors would not grant their wishes as they were unsure of the legal status of the unborn child under the Constitution.
The woman in this case was declared dead on 3 December.
The court heard evidence that her body was deteriorating and the outlook for her unborn child was very poor.
Her family wanted the life support machine to be turned off.
It’s almost as if women aren’t actually incubators. It’s almost as if there actually is a difference between a woman with a brain and a woman without one.
Lawyers represented the unborn child and the woman herself.
The lawyers for the unborn told the court that it had to satisfy that there was no real possibility of the unborn child surviving before allowing the machine to be turned off.
But there is no child. There’s no such thing as an “unborn child.” That’s a political slogan, not an accurate label. It’s grotesque having lawyers “representing” a fetus at all.
Did I read correctly that they allowed life support to be taken off because the outlook for the fetus was too poor to bother? If so, it’s hardly an affirmation that she wasn’t an incubator. More like it’s OK to turn off an incubator if it’s not working.
Agreed, there was no “child” in this equation, else it would have survived if taken out of its incubator…uh, woman.
Unfortunately, it’s only one family’s nightmare over. This isn’t likely to prevent it from happening again unless the law changes. The abuse and murder of Savita Halappanavar didn’t stop the abuse of Mary’s body, so it won’t stop the abuse of the next woman.
If a similar case happened where a woman was in the same condition as Terri Schiavo, you can be sure her rights and those of the family would be abrogated until after the foetus left her body. Her body would become a ward of the state, held captive behind a locked door, tied to a bed with tubes stuck in her like a science project instead of a human being.
I know. That’s why I titled it the way I did. It’s so clearly just this one case that’s over. It’s infuriating.
Quoted because… reasons. And maybe a band name or book title in there. Thanks for legitimizing stupid, legal system.