***This post is a follow-up to mistermix’s post and includes action items. -ABLxx
The Supreme Court of El Salvador has handed down a death sentence for Beatriz, a 22-year-old woman who desperately needs an abortion to save her life. Jodi Jacobson of RH Reality Check has the story:
Beatriz (a pseudonym) is now 24 weeks into an extremely high-risk pregnancy, complicated by a severe form of lupus, an autoimmune disease, hypertension, and renal (kidney) failure. Moreover, her pregnancy is not viable. The fetus she is carrying is anencephalic—it does not and will never have a fully formed brain—and can not survive more than a few hours after childbirth, if it survives at all. More than ten weeks ago, in the first trimester of pregnancy, Beatriz’s doctors determined she herself could not survive this pregnancy and strongly recommended to authorities that she be allowed to have an abortion to save her life. The minister of health concurred. According to the New York Times:
In a letter addressed to the Supreme Court last month, Health Minister María Isabel Rodríguez described Beatriz’s situation as “grave maternal illness with a high probability of deterioration or maternal death.” Given the fatal prognosis of the fetus, “it is necessary to undertake a medical-legal approach urgently,” Ms. Rodríguez wrote.
This was no routine medical recommendation: Abortion is banned in El Salvador without exception, and both physicians providing and women receiving abortions can be imprisoned for many years. It is thus not often that physicians, much less the minister of health, are willing to put themselves at risk even when a woman’s life is in danger. And in part as a result of these realities, maternal mortality in El Salvador remains very high.
Beatriz could have had an abortion before the end of her first trimester, and we likely would never have heard of her. But the country’s attorney general asserted he would indeed prosecute the case if the doctors performed an abortion, and so a cruel and confusing international circus began.
~snip~
[T]he case went to the Supreme Court where Beatriz herself pleaded for her own life, telling the court she wanted to live and raise her son. In a response that was as shocking then as today’s final decision is now, the Court told her they’d get back to her within 15 days, completely dismissing the agony of pain and uncertainty each day of waiting means for this woman. Meanwhile, every day that has passed has taken an increasing toll on her body and health, multiplied the costs of her medical care, increased the risk of death from a c-section or labor, and made less and less likely the prospect that she will survive. Speaking by phone to RH Reality Check last week, Beatriz’s lawyer Victor Hugo Mata asserted that “if anything happens to Beatriz, the judges of the Supreme Court will in some way be responsible.”Today, as reported by the New York Times, the court ruled 4-to-1 against saving Beatriz’s life, citing the country’s legal “absolute impediment to authorize the practice of abortion.” The court ruled that “the rights of the mother cannot be privileged over those” of the fetus.
Change.org in concert with various national and international women’s rights organizations are petitioning Pope Francis to spare Beatriz’s life. The petition reads as follows:
To: His Holiness Pope Francis, Twitter @Pontifex
We are writing to ask you to ask Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes to spare Beatriz’s life. Beatriz is a young wife and mother in El Salvador. She is pregnant. According to her doctors, her fetus has no brain, and she has several medical conditions that make it likely she will die in labor if she gives birth. El Salvador is a Catholic country. It has extremely strict laws preventing abortion — even in cases where the mother’s health and even life are threatened, and even when the life in her womb is so damaged that it could never become its own person. She has been denied the care she needs, and her appeals have been rejected by El Salvador’s Supreme Court. If she is not allowed to get the medical care she needs, Beatriz is likely to die, which will also leave her 1-year-old son motherless and husband a widower. This policy will not save any innocent life, but it may well take the innocent life of a mother. There is nothing Christian about such a policy. Please help save Beatriz — for her, for her family. She has done nothing wrong. Let His Holiness show the world that the Catholic church is an instrument of God’s mercy by coming to this young woman’s aid.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Please sign this petition. Please pass it along to your friends and family. Beatriz’s life just may depend on it.
It is sad that it has come to this: That a living breathing woman’s right to life is being trumped by the “rights” of a fetus — a fetus that has no chance of survival outside the womb.
To read RH Reality Check‘s coverage of Beatriz, click here.
UPDATE: To donate to help save Beatriz’s life, click here. All funds collected for Beatriz are being accepted by Women’s Link Worldwide, an international non-profit organization working to promote women’s rights. They will pass through tax-deductible contributions to the local Salvadoran organization Agrupación Ciudadana por la Despenalización del Aborto Ético, Terapéutico y Eugenésico (Citizens Association for the Decriminalization of Abortion), which is leading the legal fight on the ground for Beatriz. All funds will first and foremost be used for Beatriz’s medical bills, and any remaining funds will be used to help support the work of the Citizens Association.
[via RH Reality Check]
Just Some Fuckhead
Finally, the right to die is gaining some traction.
MomSense
Will do. Ugh this is just heartbreaking.
ruemara
It just seems like we’re not allowed to have any intrinsic self worth and right to life, for some people in power.
Tone In DC
It simply blows my mind that there is an “absolute impediment” to saving her life. And, I’ll bet no physician played a role in the implementation of this absolute ban.
Villago Delenda Est
This is fucking insane.
And it’s what the vile scum that are the forced birthers want for this country.
gelfling545
I’m sorry to say it but petitioning the Pope will do nothing. He may be better than some of his predecessors (I think he is) but he is still an elderly RC cleric. Whether the mother lives of dies is in God’s hands, lalalalala. I wish it were otherwise. Of course there’s the issue of him really not having any authority over El Salvador’s laws, either so even if he agreed (per impossible) he could do nothing but admonish.
Shakezula
This is the future of America if rebRand Paul has his way.
scav
It’s also a very lawerly, letter of the law decision, over and above the strict Catholicism. Obedience to the decisions of the State and Church trumps other considerations, especially when it merely concerns the bodies of the lesser. Also doubt the Pope will do — indeed can do, let alone wants to do — a thing.
Augie
Not to be obtuse but can’t we just buy her ticket out of the country for now to get her abortion to save her life? I admit it doesn’t address the larger issue, but a real human life is at stake at this point. Seems infinitely more valuable than signing a petition.
jibeaux
The pope is absolutely going to do nothing. Is there a fundraiser to get her a visa and a plane ticket?
Violet
@Augie: She’d need a passport. Unless she’s already got one, I doubt the El Salvadorian government would issue one either in time or to this high profile woman, knowing she’d probably get an abortion elsewhere.
Cassidy
@Violet: It’s Central America. Borders don’t mean much in some places.
jibeaux
@Violet: Then she’ll have an illegal abortion from some brave doctor, or she’ll die. Appealing to the pope isn’t going to do anything at all.
mainmati
Why don’t they use the money to fly her out of El Salvador so that she can get an abortion (probably she doesn’t have a passport or would be denied an exit visa)? This is nothing more than a state-sanctioned execution and the Catholic Church is supposed to be against capital p[punishment.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Violet:
Could she not seek asylum in the embassy of a sympathetic nation? She could get the abortion there. I’d be happy to contribute to pay the cost of getting a doctor on scene. Seems to me that the whole thing would take place on technically foreign soil so no violation of the laws of El Salvador.
Yatsuno
@jibeaux: I’m thinking she might be eligible for refugee status if she goes to the Canadian embassy or some other country that respects the rights of women. Then she could theoretically be flown out to anywhere without much issue.
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: You. Brain. Out. Now. :P
shortstop
This woman is so watched right now that she can’t go to the bathroom without attention. She won’t be leaving the country. We’ll all watch as she dies, and her baby dies with her. It’s what Jesus would want.
schrodinger's cat
This reminds me of the Indian woman who was denied an abortion in Ireland while she was undergoing a miscarriage and eventually died.
Emerald
And thus we see that “pro life” and “anti-abortion” are far from the same thing.
Events like this one and the one in Ireland strip the mask off these medieval thugs.
schrodinger's cat
@shortstop: So in a catholic country if you get pregnant you are also signing your own death warrant. Lovely.
Yatsuno
@schrodinger’s cat: At least in Ireland her death sparked a massive change in the law. Something tells me this won’t happen in the case of Beatriz.
Snarki, child of Loki
So, what link can we click to fund post-natal abortions for the judges on El Salvador’s supreme court that voted to kill this woman?
It’s called “justice”, and I don’t think they’ll like the flavor.
shortstop
@schrodinger’s cat: Isn’t it? Fortunately, women are subhuman, so it’s not that big a deal. I mean, it’s tragic and everything, but rules are rules.
Violet
@Cassidy: True enough. I don’t know enough about El Salvador to know how easy it is to cross the border. She’s relatively high profile, though, so that might make it harder for her.
@jibeaux: Yeah, it’s an awful situation. The El Salvadorian government is criminal for denying her this medical procedure. It’s as if her life means nothing. Murderers.
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: What sympathetic nation will do that? China, maybe? Can you see the US government doing that? I can’t.
Alison
@Violet: Also, I kind of doubt she’s in any condition to travel.
This story just makes my damn blood boil. These fucking monsters. Make no mistake – they want her to die. They love their damn martyrs :(
jibeaux
@Yatsuno: Let’s hope so. That is her best shot. Appealing to the pope is beyond pointless. They’ve thought about these things. They know about these things. They’ve faced them before and they will face it again. It absolutely, positively, does not matter. ex-Catholic, over and out.
Nazgul35
Why not use the money raised to take her to a country that will provide the medical services she so desperately needs?
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Snarki, child of Loki:
While it’s enlivening to think of drinking their blood from cups made of their own skulls the fact is that right behind them are similarly minded assholes who would gladly don their robes.
rb
She’s not going anywhere, her govt will make god damned sure of that. And even if she could and her health permitted it (the latter no sure thing), certain countries – say, for instance, the United States of America – probably wouldn’t grant her admission on humanitarian grounds because of their own fucked up internal politics. It’d be a reverse Terry Schiavo.
If Beatriz and the fetus are not both dead by the time the latter would theoretically be viable, her doctors will induce birth, at which point both will die. Then her 1-y-old son can fend for himself.
The Lord. So mysterious are his ways of working.
dedc79
@schrodinger’s cat: And getting pregnant is very often not even a choice. So, for example, a rapist could be signing a rape victim’s death warrant.
RedKitten
I have no response other than to look for a table that I can flip over in rage. Any religion that values a doomed, brainless fetus over a living wife and mother? Evil. Pure evil.
Violet
From the New York Times article:
Wonder why she didn’t show up for the procedure? Family pressure? Didn’t want to do it, wanted to have another child?
Mata is her lawyer:
I don’t understand why the doctors will have to perform the abortion in the third trimester but they can’t now. Won’t it still be illegal then? Seems horrific to make her wait.
Higgs Boson's Mate
There is no way that cutting a deal with El Salvador’s narcotraficantes would get Beatriz the care that she needs – is there?
Cassidy
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: That’s why you use rope.
jibeaux
@Violet: I don’t think “remove the fetus” = abortion. It is probably more akin to a preterm caesarian. The fetus will die from not having a brain. If she makes it that long.
Mnemosyne
@rb:
You can’t induce labor on a fetus with anacephaly — the small amount of skull that it has would shatter under the pressure. It would have to be a caesarian, which I can’t imagine would be good for someone who already has heart and kidney problems.
Soprano2
This is so horrifying.
Chris
@gelfling545:
This.
If Francis’ papacy does end up being an improvement over his predecessors’, it’ll be in managing to put something other than abortion and gay marriage back on the Church’s agenda (e.g. economic justice), which is what a lot of people are hoping to see. But there was never any chance of him backtracking on issues of sexuality.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Cassidy:
While I do favor hanging pour encourager les autres it does require a bit of technique and understanding lest you bungle the thing and simply strangle or decapitate the hanged person.
raven
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: I’m a big fan of the dull deer antler.
Shakezula
@Mnemosyne: The fact that she could have had a much shorter, far less invasive procedure with minimal pain management only cubes the hideousness of her situation.
Cassidy
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: And? I wouldn’t put that much thought into it for these kinds of people. Just tell them it’s “God’s will”.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Cassidy:
I’m considering that someone usually has to clean up if either a strangling or a decapitation is done in a formal setting. If you do it sloppily in a warehouse on, say 17 Avenida Sur, then you can simply walk away.
RedKitten
This just shows, though, that the term “pro-life” is a misnomer.
sparrow
@Violet: Technical term is still abortion if it’s shortly after the fetus dies. So they could wait for it to die, then perform the abortion. Presumably. It’s a bit unclear vis-a-vis the technical term and the legal term.
rikyrah
For all those American women ‘ on the fence’ politically – this is what the GOP wants FOR YOU
rikyrah
For all those American women ‘ on the fence’ politically – this is what the GOP wants FOR YOU
wenchacha
Interesting that she would have been allowed to get her tubes tied/uterus removed/whatever at the young age of 21, which is such a big hurdle for many women in this country.
“El Salvador” seems like a ridiculously ironic name for the fucking country.
wenchacha
@Mnemosyne: Thanks for that explanation. Many years back, I heard that a cousin was dealing with a similar pregnancy. I could never understand why they wouldn’t just induce, why she would have to carry her doomed fetus to term, and then deliver. Because it sounded horrific.
Somewhat less horrific than for poor Beatriz, however.
Some more points: there are terrible things which can happen in a pregnancy. Share a tale, and there will always be people who have not the slightest notion of the hardships and hazards of pregnancy and childbirth. That’s part of the problem, too.
Optimists, “God-will-take-care” types, shallow sorts and dimwits probably don’t spend much time considering the life-or-death situation that exists for many pregnant women. We need to talk about it more. We need to scare the fucking shit out of people, that they could meet the same fate. And we need to call out the fucking fatheads who insist that birthing babies is abut as risky as a hen laying an egg.
Tom_B
@rikyrah: “For all those American women ‘ on the fence’ politically – this is what the GOP wants FOR YOU.” Many people NEVER believe bad things could happen to THEM; just to “other people”. Witness that there are millions of female republicans out there. Not as numerous as males, perhaps, but they are out there. And republican African Americans, and latinos.
Tom_B
@rikyrah: “For all those American women ‘ on the fence’ politically – this is what the GOP wants FOR YOU.” Many people NEVER believe bad things could happen to THEM; just to “other people”. Witness that there are millions of female republicans out there. Not as numerous as males, perhaps, but they are out there. And republican African Americans, and latinos.
Uncle Cosmo
@rikyrah: No, no, no, no, no. You misunderstand completely.
This is what the GOP wants for you unless you have the cash to
–have (or expedite the purchase of) a passport
–buy a round-trip ticket to (say) Amsterdam
–bribe the exit screeners at the international airport (who will be alert to turn back the obviously or previously-identified preggo)
–cover the procedure by a competent physician in a competent hospital, &
–spring for a few days’ room & board while you get back on your baby-killing feet enough to come home.
Here is the truly ugly secret about the Rethugs’ unholy alliance of socially-nihilist plutocrats & cultural neofascists:
IOW, freedom shoiuld be so precious that only the sufficiently wealthy should be allowed to buy it.
burnspbesq
@Augie:
Not to be obtuse but can’t we just buy her ticket out of the country for now to get her abortion to save her life?
This, pretty much. A round-trip ticket from San Salvador to Miami costs less than $700. Let’s just save this woman’s fucking life, and worry about changing Salvadoran law later.
Shortstop
@wenchacha: Salvadoran law permits sterilization for contraceptive purposes for anyone of fertile age. In the past, there have been reports of the poor being given food rewards to undergo sterilization.
Keith G
The right call from Obama’s State Department (or the Oval office) would get this woman cleared for a flight to the Texas Women’s Hospital in Houston in less than a day.
Instead of letters to the Pope, contact the Salvadoran embassy or consulates, and definitely contact the White House.
rb
@Mnemosyne: Good point, I was sloppy. Not that it matters :(
Mnemosyne
@rb:
It’s actually something that comes up during arguments, though — stupid people really do think that you just give birth to an anacephalic fetus like a regular baby with no problem, but it requires a whole lot of medical intervention to prevent a serious injury to the mother. It’s another reason it’s so cruel to insist that women who are pregnant with an anacephalic fetus should have to carry it to term.
Patricia Kayden
@gelfling545: Exactly. The Pope/Catholic Church enforces an absolute ban on abortions in their medical facilities. Petitioning him is useless.
I wish Beatriz was in a position to leave El Salvador and get the medical care she needs so badly. This is a nightmare and hopefully will lead to change in that country.
CarolDuhart2
http://www.internationallifeflight.com/
peggy
Signed and forwarded to friends. My friends are former Catholics, so they may be unwilling to sign a petition (as opposed to a warrant) to the Pope.
a non mouse
@Mnemosyne: @Mnemosyne:
Nope, it IS possible to induce an anencephalic fetus. I’ve done it several times in my career when the pregnancy was around week 22 or so. Her previous section makes the induction riskier but still easily doable. To be blunt, who cares if the fetus’s head smooshes down? There is no dome of the skull there to break.