Dr. Jen Gunter: When a politician decides if the life of a mother is at risk

[Bolo Boffin]

http://drjengunter.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/when-a-politician-decides-if-the-life-of-the-mother-is-at-risk/

"I have to tell you something," I said. I’m sure I closed my eyes, because even though I had nothing to do with it, I hated myself for what I was about to say. "There’s a new law. Maybe you don’t know about it? When the hospital’s budget was submitted this year to the state there was an additional clause. No abortions in this facility unless it’s life or death. Doesn’t matter if we can get insurance to pay or even if everyone is willing to waive their fees. The hospital is owned by the state."

..."But it is a matter of life and death." he said. "It’s not if it’s when. Her ejection fraction sucks. Her heart is crapping out already. Oh, and she had postpartum cardiomyopathy last time." He was yelling by this point.

No wonder he was amazed that she survived her first pregnancy. Postpartum cardiomyopathy, devastating failure of the heart after delivery, has a 50% mortality rate. Women with underlying heart disease are at increased risk of getting this condition and the lucky survivors are more likely to get it again should they chance another pregnancy.

"Look, I’m not the bad guy here. But unless you can tell me she’s going to die in the next 30 minutes, we can’t do anything. Legal was very explicit. The next step is for you to call the concerned politician who wrote the law, explain her medical condition, and then find out if she meets his criteria for life and death. Basically, you need his permission." I paused, knowing what was coming next.

Pro-life, my ass.

(emphasis original, though I corrected some of the punctuation)

[Brickbat]

1. She should name the politician, the hospital, the legal team, and whoever it is talking to her.

Name the bastards and shame the devil.

[Angry Dragon]

2. +11,779

[dembotoz]

3. shame them???? accuse them of attempted murder and have em thrown in jail

i like of the thought of prolife legislators on a chain gang

[freshwest]

4. Won't matter until it happens to them, and not even then. Remember Sanctorum's stance on abortion?

No abortion, period...

Unless it happens to be Rick Santorum’s wife, and she might have died if not for her 20-week-old fetus being “partial birth” aborted. That’s different. Because, you know, that’s JUSTIFIED. Unlike all those other mothers.

In October, 1996, his wife Karen had a second trimester abortion. They don’t like to describe it that way. In his 2004 interview with Terry Gross, Santorum characterizes the fetus, who must be treated as an autonomous person, as a practically a gunslinging threat, whom the mother must murder in self-defense. Karen has had to justify her decision to save her own life by explaining that if she died her other children would have lost a mother. [...]

Karen Santorum is the wife of right-wing, anti-abortion Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). In 1996, Senator Santorum led the debate on a bill that attempted to ban late-term abortions, and refused to make an exception even in the case of “grievous bodily injury” to the woman. In Santorum’s article, she expresses her view that carrying a non-viable fetus to term is the only option, and apparently does not think the woman’s health or future fertility should be a consideration.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/lousycanuck/2011/06/19/santorums-wifes-abortion-was-different-you-see/

One set of laws for them, another one for us.

[Thinkingabout]

5. It is time to end Sharia Laws, they should never been passed.

When the deciding factor for people to vote for anyone running for offices is their stand on abortion we are in sad shape. If two candidates was running for office and equally qualified then to use their stand on abortion would be okay. Just because a candidate is against abortion never makes them qualified to hold office.

[marybourg]

6. Actualy, I think it makes him/her

UNqualified to hold office.

[knitter4democracy]

7. They don't care if women die.

I had a pro-lifer yell at me in college that any woman who dies during an abortion or dies because she needed one and didn't get it deserves to die. It was during a class debate (at a Christian college), and I'll never forget the look on the faces in the rest of the class. Most people have no idea just how fucked up many of the serious pro-lifers really are and therefore don't take them seriously.

[RainDog]

8. k&r n/t

[dana_b]

9. her life isn't what is important

and actually the fetus' life isn't that important either (to the politicians). it's the politicians' own lives and pocketbooks that matter. We all know this. This tragic story illustrates the consequences of their greed though.