Savita Had a Heartbeat, Too (re: the woman who died after being denied an abortion)
Savita Had a Heartbeat, Too
by Shivana Jorawar, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum
November 27, 2012
For days now, I’ve been putting myself in Savita Halappanavar’s shoes. I’m expecting. Seventeen weeks in, piercing pain sends me to the hospital. For three days, I’m miscarrying. There’s no hope for my child and my own health is fading. For three days, I’m in physical agony and doctors refuse my pleas to terminate the pregnancy to save my life. The child won’t survive, but there is a "heartbeat" and doctors fear terminating will violate my country’s laws. The unthinkable happens.
The tragedy that ended Savita’s life put a human face on the abortion issue. People are demonstrating in droves and even the Indian government is pressuring Ireland to change its laws. One demonstrator held a placard reading, “Savita had a heartbeat, too.”
For many of us, the disregard for women’s human rights in the name of religion just became personal. When I see Savita’s face, I can’t help thinking that she looks like me and, like me, was educated and could afford health care—but she still suffered this indefensible fate. Everyone knew the child could not survive, but that Savita could with proper care.
What does it say about a society when it leaves a woman to die in the name of “life?”
The rest:
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/11/27/she-had-heartbeat-too%E2%80%94remembering-savita-halappanavar
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