Imagine getting pregnant, only to be diagnosed with cancer. Now imagine it getting worse. Much worse.
In a story that should give women everywhere pause, Michelle Harte was forced to travel out of the country to have an abortion because she was living in Ireland, where the law only allows abortion in cases where a hospital has determined a mother's life is at risk if she continues with the pregnancy. Ironically, her own doctors had advised her to terminate to proceed with cancer treatments, but the ethics committee that had final say on her abortion said no.
By the time all was said and done, the delay in cancer treatment allowed the disease to spread in her body. She's now been declared "terminally ill." If she dies, she'll leave behind her daughter, motherless.
Harte's story came out this week after the story of yet another woman in a similar situation blew wide open the problems with governments having the ultimate say over a woman's womb. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Ireland breached the "human rights" of that woman -- currently known as C -- by refusing her an abortion, forcing her to seek care outside of the country as well.
To put this in perspective, just this week, doctors began talking about the very real possibility that Americans delaying childbirth will increase the number of pregnant women facing a breast cancer diagnosis. The doctors recommended women get treatment for the cancer as soon as possible ... and outlined the risks of sticking with the pregnancy.
Put the two situations together along with a third: imagine the right-to-lifers get their way. Seventy percent of evangelical Christians in this country are in favor of completely overturning Roe v. Wade. There would be no room for "well, if you're sick, you can choose." American women would face Michelle Harte's horror -- the choice, followed by the stress of traveling while terminally ill, plus the stigma. As her partner Neil Doolan told the Irish Times:
She was very unwell. She was very stressed out, physically very weak, nauseous, and vomiting.
It's easy for the right to life contingent to mark abortion off as the easy out for loose women and stupid teenagers. But women like Michelle Harte crop up every day. Moms who were doing nothing wrong, but are treated like criminals trapped in the jail of their own bodies.
Women die when they can't take control of their healthcare. How is that any better than aborting a fetus?
Image via PinkMoose/Flickr
Kim and Kanye's Baby Name Predictions!
Moms Love Birthday Parties, Too!
Father Knows Best - Happy Father's Day!
Are Cheaters Entitled to Privacy? - A...
Comments 30
It's heartbreaking when a woman chooses to abort her baby. That is something I am adamant about. It doesn't mean sometimes it's not medically necessary I just believe in a perfect world no woman would have to. I don't believe in abortion myself, don't think it should be done except in medical emergencies. But that being said I don't judge a woman who chooses that because whether she does or doesn't abort her baby her life is changed forever and that's for her to deal with
Also, keep in mind the fact that the number one cause of death in pregnant women TODAY is murder. Prior to Roe V. Wade that number was triple what it is today. Women having the right to choose has saved the lives of an untold amount of women. Whether you fear for your life bc of cancer or for any other reason you should have the right to choose your own life. That is what the Pro-lifers should think about once in awhile-- the people whose lives would be lost if they had their way.
Wow, the compassion in the comments is just overwhelming. Glad none of you have control of my body. And I'm not even totally pro-choice. I personally would never get an abortion, but I've seen it necessary for medical reasons, and I really believe that is the only justifiable reason to have an abortion, but I also don't want a bunch of heartless fanatics telling me or anyone else what to do with my body.
@ Mommix4
Exactly. I am NOT talking about rape cases here, I am talking about consensual sex that led to a baby. Yes, you made that choice. Maybe your birth control failed, maybe you forgot it altogether. Well, that's just how life goes. When you have sex, protected or not, you take the risk of becoming pregnant. In that case, yes, you should carry that baby to term. Its not as though adult women do not know how babies are made. nine and ten year olds know that.
If you don't want a baby, don't have sex.
I also don't hate anyone, I don't hate women who have gotten abortions. They face huge emotional and mental, sometimes physical repercussions. Nobody deserves that. Because human life is equal and alway important, whether its a man, a woman, a murderer, or an unborn, innocent child. Life is important.