The Story:
While listening to a radio news broadcast, heard that a doctor was taken into remand custody. Apparently the husband has lodged a complaint to the police after the death of his wife during an abortion.
The Fact:
Abortion is illegal in Sri Lanka. Imposing our own moral values upon others is also a favourite pastime of ours.
The Irony:
[glowsun] : I heard about this guy who broke into a lion's den at the zoo and got mauled and people were talking about how there should have been better defenses put up to prevent people getting into the cage a friend of mine suggested setting up some kind of deterrent for example, putting some sort of fierce animal in the cage, which would attack anybody who climbed in
10 comments:
'Abortion is illegal in Sri Lanka. Imposing our own moral values upon others is also a favourite pastime of ours.'
Do u think it should be otherwise? As far as I can see, there are two reasons why one would go for an abortion.
1. Mother screwed it up big time.
2. Someone else screwed up the mother big time.
In either cases, I dont see, how some one elses fault can be compensated over someone else's life. Frankly, the mother or anyone else, doesn't have the right over the child's life.
Of course, I assume people are thinking otherwise?
Morality on abortion is very subjective. But if we look at the fact of abortion being illegal, then the doctor’s accountability in this case is twofold -death of a patient and breaking the law.
Anon,
“the mother or anyone else, doesn't have the right over the child’s life”
When does it become a child - right from the word go ie: embryo?
I confess I swing towards the pro-life side of things, I don't think abortion should be approached in a casual manner - it's not a fix-it just because you forgot to use a condom. Extenuating circumstances where lives are at risk or it's a rape victim are different.
However I am also pro-choice, and I don't think the two things are mutually exclusive. It should be the woman's choice and I think contraceptives, EC and abortion should be made available simply because more people die as a result of not having those things available. Plan B of shoving a coat-hanger up a uterus to yank out a foetus isn't really pleasant, I should imagine.
Interesting. Never meant to strike a debate on morality. But since we're on the subject,
Anon, you're right. I think it was Kahlil Gibran who said that "Even though children come through you, they dont' belong to you."
Mia,
You're right as well. The question of whether an embryo can be called a human being is debatable. And personally, being an anti-spiritual and anti-hocus-pocus guy, I don't believe that embryos at an early stage have any consciousness.
Darwin,
As far as I know, Sri Lanka does not entertain abortions on the grounds of rape and incest. But I do admire your pro-life/pro-choice paradox. ;)
So all your opinions are right according to your own context. My question is why should we make something illegal when the line morality is this thin. Who am I to decide for what is wrong and what is right for someone else? What sort of power does judiciary think they have to impose a law upon a woman who is so desperate to abort something created by her own flesh and blood?
I agree, it shouldn't be illegal. It should also be 'difficult' in the sense you shouldn't be able to get an OTC-abortion the same way you would get panadol for a headache. Even EC (emergency contraception) is not available without a prescription.
WRT to consciousness and embryonic life, I think the morality of the thing comes into play if sentience can be assigned. Potential to someday feel pain does not equal actually feeling pain. Of course this argument is wasted on those religious types that think even something like masturbation is a sin as it involves 'spilling the seed' and wasting 'life'.
interesting debate. i have always been staunchly pro-choice. to bring an unwanted child into this world is also wrong. to have children and leave them in garbage dumps and flush them down toilets is also wrong. worse than killing a foetus, i think. i know someone who had an abortion. it was because they forgot to use a condom. it wasn't easy for her. i don't think anyone who gets one ever forgets it. that being said, in a country like ours it is not as simple as having a kid and giving it up for adoption, if you're an unwed mother. at least if abortion is legal, then girls who now die at the hands of quacks will be saved.
sorry. long rant =)
Darwin,
I totally understand the "potential to feel pain" argument, but the difference between 'feeling pain' and 'self-awareness of pain' is a little blurry. Sentience and this awareness business is a complicated subject and I wish I did have some background on biology....at least to be able to scientifically define what being human is.
PP,
Don't have first hand experience with the maternal instinct but as you mention I'm pretty sure that it's not easy for mothers to make the decision of aborting.
And by all means rant! How else are we to know what's brewing on your head?
wow.. that's a very heavy and deep subject to talk about..
maybe abortions doesn't even have to be considered if proper education was made available for people...
There is so much to say.. but I see bits and peices of my thoughts have been covered by previous comments..:-)
Well i'll try to clear some points,
As you know Abortion is illegal in Sri Lanka. What is termed as 'Therapeutic Abortion' is ONLY allowed to be done by a doctor, if the continuation of the pregnancy puts the mothers' health/life at risk. And even in that instance there is a medico-legal procedure that must be strictly adhered to.
Hence causing the 'expulsion of the contents of a gravid uterus' in whatever way, by any person, before the onset of spontaneous(natural) labour in a woman is punishable under the Penal code of SL. It doesn't contain a time limit of weeks. As per definition abortion is at anytime before the spontaneous onset of labour. Criminal abortion carries a sentence of 20 years rigourous imprisonment, which is further amplified if the abortion is,
a)done after the babies movements are first felt(quickening)
b)done without the mothers consent
c)causes the death of the mother
Inspite of these hard laws, sadly more than 750 illegal abortions take place per day in SL; and of that over 500 are done in Colombo alone. The 'abortionists' are frequently doctors, indeginous practiotioners and some midwifes, wwhile the mother may herself cause to abort. They use a variety of physical, chemical and interventional methods of which 'menstrual regulation' is the most popular and spoken about. These criminal abortions sometimes lead to serious consequences - even the mothers death resulting from nerve stimulation, bleeding or infection.
Why do the mothers choose to abort? a number of reasons come to my mind of which the following are highlighted...
a) married woman already having kids wishing to limit the family (Family Planning)
b) unmarried woman
c) pregnancy interfering with her future (wishing to go abroad, continue studies)
d) abnormality of foetus
e) pregnancy result of rape/incest
f) forced to do so by father/boyfriend
In 1995 the cabinet approved a proposal of amendment to the penal code. The abortion laws were also to be modified to permit abortion in cases of rape and incest and for eugenic reasons. It was a very progressive reform to the old laws. But due to immense pressure from religous? lobbies the amendments regarding abortion were shelved at the parliamentary commitee stage and only the rest of the changes to the code were legalised. Hence to this day we are backwards even from India withregard to our Abortion laws, we still hang on to the scripts that the british gave us, laws that were drawn up in the 18th century!
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Ruth
http://www.infrared-sauna-spot.info
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