Tragic Death In Ireland - Just In Case Anyone Wasn't Sure How Horrible This Is....

[fatpie42]

... the answer is "pretty damn horrible", okay?

Y'see Ireland has this law whereby abortion is made illegal. It's not actually supposed to include cases where there's a danger to the mother, but that didn't stop the recent ridiculously unnecessary screw-up. The law actually doesn't really so much stop abortions as make them extra specially difficult

Comments

[deepseasiren]

I remember the case where a young woman was pregnant and went over to England to have an abortion. This was several years ago but she made it clear that she felt Irish law needed to be changed. Most heavily Catholic countries of course abortion and birth control are illegal... the Phillipines, Mexico, Poland etc. It's an example of why as a Catholic I can't say I agree at all with the church's stance on women, abortion and gays. And they need to change with the times.

[rhoda_rants]

I've been seeing this story everywhere this week. Breaks my heart, and makes me so, so angry.

The thing I can't wrap my around is the fact that she was miscarrying--meaning the BABY STILL DIED! They saved NO ONE!!

[fatpie42]

I'm sure you've heard this before, but it's events like this that emphasise how true it is (whether overtly or subconsciously). The sentiment isn't "we need to save the baby". The sentiment is "we need to punish the slut". (I think I just threw up a little. Ugh

[rhoda_rants]

The sentiment isn't "we need to save the baby". The sentiment is "we need to punish the slut".

Mm. I don't think I've heard it articulated quite that way before, but I think you're right. This actually clarifies a lot for me--for example, the reason so many conservatives in the US are pro-life and also pro-gun, pro-capital punishment, etc.

I am really struggling with the trolley example, though. You're still killing one innocent bystander either way. Also, my writer-brain can't tolerate absolutes in weird scenarios like that--I always go, "What if I find a shovel and jam it under the wheel?" or "Can't I kill the electricity?" or "What if I just yell, "HEY GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!"?" In that example, I'd probably push the "hefty" guy, with the idea that his being hefty might mean he's only severely injured, not killed--despite you're saying that it will indeed kill him, because like I said, I'm fighting against the idea of absolutes because that's what I do. I'm always looking for a third option. (That being "GET THE HELL OUT OF

[fatpie42]

I always go, "What if I find a shovel and jam it under the wheel?" or "Can't I kill the electricity?"*Panics as the trolley gets closer* THERE'S NOT ENOUGH TIME!!!! :P

[chron_job]

Great post. Very informative.

[fatpie42]

Thanks. :)

Pity it couldn't have been about something nicer, but I felt I had to comment on this. (Even if it's mainly just parroting stuff I've heard elsewhere.)

[ariseishirou]

Thanks for posting on this. All of my information about the tragedy was coming from American news media, which was predictably slanted depending on the source.

I was raised in an Evangelical Christian home, and the day I stopped being pro-life was the day I realized no one else on my side actually seemed to give a shit about the fetus. It was all about punishing sexually active young women, to the point where you could feel the vitriol dripping tangibly from older men and women sputtering about "consequences" and "they should have kept their legs together". Even better, when two of the teenaged girls in my youth group became pregnant, their pro-life parents made both of them have abortions, because in the case of their precious little angel, it was just a "mistake" and she wasn't one of "those women" and shouldn't be made to "suffer". If a fetus is indeed god's special miracle gift of joy, what is she "suffering", exactly?

The hypocrisy was galling.

[myrrhmade]

I read about this the other day. Awful.