The morals of the Catholic Church are yet again under scrutiny in Ireland after the tragic death of a young mother-to-be. The Daily Shift’s Aoife Bennett gives her input…
Savita Halappanavar, who allegedly died as a result of being refused an abortion. *Image courtesy of newswhip.com
It has been over a year since I went to Mass. In fact, I now only go at Christmas, for weddings and for funerals. My parents attend the Sunday sermon religiously (sorry for the pun) and any time I say I don’t want to go too, I am met with stares and the question of ‘why not?’
The simple answer? I’ve lost all faith in the Catholic Church. (Sorry for the pun. Again.)
I haven’t been living under a rock, so naturally I have heard all about the child abuse scandals. The final straw, and what made me truly decide to distance myself from the Church, came to light yesterday, Wednesday 14 November.
Ireland as a country has been attempting for years to move forward as a society. Yet, on Wednesday we learned that a young woman died after being denied an abortion, which she desperately needed as she was suffering a miscarriage which put her life in danger. She later died from septicemia.
Once again, our laws have let us down.
Calling Ireland a Catholic country is a case of painting everyone with the same brush. Yes, Catholicism is still the largest religion in Ireland. We need to look at our legislation and ask ourselves why, if a law has been passed for the last 20 years, is it still not being put into practice?
The law in question here came into play after the notorious X Case, heard in 1992. In this case, a young woman, who had been raped, was denied permission to travel to England for an abortion. After this decision was made, there were serious concerns about her welfare (the woman had attempted to commit suicide) and it was ruled that an abortion would be allowed if there was a threat to the mother’s life.
Did I forget something? Oh, the woman in question was 14.
If this law was brought in, and Savita Halappanavar’s life was in danger, then why should she be treated any different? If she needs help, she should get it. The same goes for anyone. Isn’t the Catholic Church’s doctrine to help those in need?
One thing’s for sure. You won’t be seeing me in the congregation of St Mary’s any time soon.
She did not require the abortion due to suffering from septicaemia but because she was miscarriaging which resulted in her dying from septicaemia. Her death may or may not be related to her not receiving the abortion. The fact is that she was denied it is a crime as her health was in decline and the foetus would not survive. It is not against the law to carry out an abortion if the life of the mpother may be in danger. The fact that the doctor said that this is a Catholic country and thus denied the abortion is negligence.
I believe the problem from reading a report, and I may be wrong, was that the legislation in the country is not strong enough to give doctors absolute confidence in granting an abortion. There are too many grey areas and the doctors opted to avoid the possibility of legal action been taken against them by not granting the abortion, citing that they did not think it was serious enough and that the problem would solve itself naturally. She was told it was only a matter of time until the baby died, but because the child had a heartbeat (however faint) they didn’t want to be the ones to put an end to its life (even though it was not going to make it). Once you enter labour, your cervix is open, which leaves you vulnerable to septicaemia. She had hers open for 72 hours – an unacceptable amount of time. Undoubtedly the best medical treatment would have been to perform an abortion, but the doctors decided to take a chance, which is ultimately the reason for this tragic loss of life. Again, I may be missing some information here, but that is what I have gathered from reading all of the reports available.
And with regards this “may not be related to her not receiving an abortion” craic. Seriously? Do you really believe this woman would have died had she not had a miscarriage?
I agree with Kevin. The thing that sickens me most I think is that they left a woman in agony for three days despite the fact that her child was never going to survive. Even if she hadn’t died the cruelty and negligence is just horrendous. Can you imagine the physical pain, as well as the emotional turmoil? Can you imagine being her husband, watching her suffer and there’s nothing you can do?
As a woman I would be very wary about getting pregnant (which I don’t plan to for a LONG time) in Ireland if this is the standard of care I can expect.
Aoife, I don’t go to mass either apart from funerals or weddings. I go on Christmas day to keep the peace. I was at a funeral recently and they have changed the words, they have made them even more sexist, if possible. There is no reference to women. Jesus came down to save men only apparently. The new I Confess makes me sick. The congregration are expected to say “it’s my fault” three times in a row. Halfway through the mass, during the prayers of the faithful, the priest prayed for the unborn child and for those who “aid abortion” to see the error of their ways. During a funeral. If it had been an ordinary mass I would have walked out. I won’t be returning to mass.