Baby of Salvadoran woman denied abortion dies following C-section birth; child had no brain

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Baby of Salvadoran woman denied abortion dies following C-section birth; child had no brain
Article by: Associated Press
Updated: June 4, 2013 - 10:48 AM

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - The baby born to a Salvadoran woman who had been denied an abortion has died.

The girl had been born without a brain and Health Minister Maria Isabel Rodriguez says she died five hours after Monday's operation.

Officials refer to the 22-year-old mother only as Beatriz for privacy reasons.

The country's Supreme Court last week prohibited an abortion for Beatriz, who suffers from lupus and kidney failure. Her lawyers said the pregnancy was threatening her life. Her plight drew international attention and a ruling from the Inter-American Court on Human Rights that El Salvador should protect her life and help her to end the pregnancy.

http://www.startribune.com/world/210088671.html



Read more: http://www.startribune.com/world/210088671.html

---

(Short article, no more at link.)

[SunSeeker]

1. Beatriz has gone through hell. How is she doing?

Being forced to carry a braindead baby to term, then having to have a dangerous c-section operation is just criminal. The fetus was not viable from day one. Her health was at risk with her kidney failure and lupus, all made more problematic by the lengthy pregnancy that sapped her body. I can't imagine what that poor women feels like right now. The article doesn't say anything about the condition of the mother. As usual, she is the least of concerns.

[redwitch]

2. I agree, how awful for her!

I hope she has access to birth control so it won't happen again, sounds like her poor body just isn't up to the difficult job of growing a baby. But what has this ordeal done to her psyche?

[abelenkpe]

10. A good friend of mine was diagnosed with Lupus while pregnant

With twin girls. Her doctors told her halfway through her pregnancy that neither one of her babies would survive outside the womb and that the pregnancy was threatening her life. She and her husband made the painful decision to terminate. With treatment two years later she was healthy enough to carry to term a healthy baby boy so having Lupus does not mean that it is impossible to have a healthy pregnancy alone. It does make it far more risky though if one does not have access to quality medical care.

[Sirveri]

25. pretty sure she doesn't need to worry about that. She's dead.

At least that's the way I read the article...

[muriel_volestrangler]

27. No, she's not dead. The foetus/baby died shortly after the C-section

The excerpt in the OP says the baby died. The AP article was updated yesterday to make this clear:

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - An ill Salvadoran woman who delivered a baby without a brain through a cesarean section after being denied a medical abortion is recovering well and has had her tubes tied as she requested, doctors said Tuesday.

The 22-year-old woman was stable and remained in intensive care because of her fragile health, doctors said.

"This is a period of high risk because of possible post-surgery complications related to her health," said Dr. Xenia Sandoval, head of the Intensive Care Unit at Maternity Hospital.

Her baby girl was born without a brain and died five hours after the woman had a C-section Monday.

[Sirveri]

31. oh you're right, I missread that.

[Maraya1969]

3. I remember my mother telling me how one of her friends, (before Roe V Wade) was made to carry a dead

baby around for months because they would not do an abortion on her.

How "pro-life" people treat women is criminal.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. That also happened to actress Barbara Eden. I cannot imagine the horror and pain involved!

[abelenkpe]

15. Pro lifers reason that any abortion

Is interfering with God's plan and so if a woman's life is at risk it was "meant to be."

Halfway through my last pregnancy we were told that one of our twins was not developing properly, would not survive outside the womb and was endangering the life of the twin who was healthy. After seeing three different specialists hoping for a different diagnosis we were forced to make the difficult decision no parent ever wants to make. Republicans would have denied us this choice though, sacrificing the beautiful daughter I have today. Their policies are cruel. The vast majority of those who have these types of mid to late term abortions desperately wanted their children and had to make a painful decision for serious health reasons. Sadly they are seen as the most controversial and therefore are the most demonized by so called right to lifers. I know several families who have gone through this because we have been part of an ongoing support group. Abortion has to remain available and should be a private decision because the truth is it is in some situations a necessary life saving procedure. No one ever points that out though, how many are saved. How many mothers continue on to have healthy pregnancies, or to care for the children they already have, or how many multiples are saved. And that's without mentioning the poor women who would die getting an illegal abortion if none were available legally.

[Ednahilda]

29. I'll believe the "not interfering with God's will" nonsense

when I hear a christian say that s/he will forgo cancer treatments because the disease is God's will - or "meant to be" in their lingo.

Funny how God's will only pertains to pregnancy.

[Warpy]

28. They only made her carry it long enough to burn out her kidneys

Those men were so busy waving their dicks around at each other they failed to realize they were making sure both mother and fetus would die.

Men who are not doctors have no place in decisions like these.

[rebecca_herman]

30. Not to term but dragged out far longer than it should have been

She was about 24-28 weeks which was far too long but apparently that was the earliest point it could be considered a "live birth" and not an "abortion." It seems like mental gymnastics to me but I hope this poor woman is able to recover from this horrible ordeal and that it leads to changes in the law. She also has a one year old son.

[ck4829]

5. Now the Salvadoran government and supreme court can pay for the child's burial, right? Right?

Yoo hoo, Salvadoran govt, where did you guys go?

[AlbertCat]

6. The girl had been born without a brain

Just like the El Salvadorian Supreme Court.

[blackspade]

14. and that made her smarter than them.

Those 'justices' have black holes in their heads.

[Dawson Leery]

7. When ignorance (religious dogma) is the law.

[Squinch]

8. Oh, my , god! The article says that women who have ECTOPIC pregnancies are not allowed

abortions. Un-terminated ectopic pregnancies are almost certain death for the mother, and definitely certain death for the fetus.

These people are morons.

[RainDog]

11. That's what right wing religious people do to a nation

they're here in the U.S., as well, and would like to do this to American women.

they're trying to get rid of Planned Parenthood via legislation at the state level, across the U.S.

that's why Republicans got such a hard-on when they proposed state-mandated transvaginal rape for any woman who sought an abortion.

that's why I don't understand why anyone on this board can post anything in support of the religious organization that is most responsible for this HEINOUS, DISGUSTING, MISOGYNISTIC and HATEFUL treatment of women.

...because THAT's the tradition of that organization.

[Rozlee]

24. There are 64,000 ectopic pregnancies a year in the US.

I don't know what that would amount to over there, but ectopic pregnancies are always life-threatening to the mother. I can't conceive of how many girls and women bleed out because of a bunch of misogynistic, 10th century, child-molesting asshats controlling their government. And that's just the kindest language in my vocabulary, mods be damned.

[Ilsa]

9. A good friend's fetus died at week 12 in utero.

The doctor was having trouble getting her scheduled for the D&C. He asked her which of two dates, two weeks apart, because the sooner date was when he knew her husband would be out of town. She insisted on the sooner date, and required her husband to cancel his business trip to be with her, which he did, even though it cost their company a lot of money in rescheduling. She couldn't bear the idea of carrying around a dead fetus any longer than necessary.

Why is that so hard to understand?

I hope Beatriz recovers without complications. I know the C-section hurt.

[Judi Lynn]

12. El Salvador: After Beatriz, no more women must suffer discrimination and torture

June 2013
El Salvador: After Beatriz, no more women must suffer discrimination and torture

No woman should be denied lifesaving medical treatment – including abortion if necessary – Amnesty International said after the Salvadoran authorities waited for weeks before taking action to save the life of a seriously ill pregnant woman.

The life of “Beatriz” is no longer at risk after El Salvador’s government on Monday finally administered an early caesarean section to stop her from dying because of complications posed by a non-viable pregnancy and serious illness.

Beatriz – whose case has galvanized activists around the world – was made to suffer for weeks on end while El Salvador’s courts and officials debated whether to treat her.

“We wish Beatriz a speedy and full recovery after this harrowing and unnecessarily drawn-out experience,” said Esther Major, Amnesty International’s researcher on El Salvador.

“At the same time, we want to clearly state that no woman or girl should experience the kind of discrimination and torture Beatriz went through when she was fighting for her life while being denied access to life saving and health preserving abortion services.”

More:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/el-salvador-beatriz-update-2013-06-04

[freshwest]

19. Thank you, Amnesty International. Call this what it is - mental and physical torture.

All pregnancies are different, all lives are different. In an ideal world, every child and mother and unborn child are treated with dignity and respect.

Motherhood is a responsibility not to be taken lightly. The mother is the source of the life of the child and the primary caregiver and guide in most cases for the rest of her life. Whatever she may have planned for her life before that will never be the same, there is no do-over for most women who give birth.

Why make a woman's part in this journey an onerous and dangerous one, ruled over by callous, unaffected strangers, who disregard her when they are not the direct participants in the creation and nurturance of those children?

[Judi Lynn]

13. Ill Salvadoran woman denied abortion has C-section

Ill Salvadoran woman denied abortion has C-section
By MARCOS ALEMAN, Associated Press | June 3, 2013 | Updated: June 3, 2013 10:27pm

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — A seriously ill woman denied a medical abortion has had a successful cesarean section to deliver a baby that doctors have given little chance of surviving, El Salvador's Health Ministry announced late Monday.

The 22-year-old woman, known only as Beatriz for privacy reasons, underwent the operation in the afternoon after 27 weeks of pregnancy, the ministry said. Her baby girl was born without a brain.

"No one can say how long she will live," Morena Herrera of the Feminist Collective for Local Development told The Associated Press. "It was painful to see the little creature. That's what the grandmother told us, and the doctors confirmed it."

The country's Supreme Court last week prohibited an abortion for Beatriz, who suffers from lupus and kidney failure and whose lawyers said the pregnancy was threatening her life. Her plight drew international attention and a ruling from the Inter-American Court on Human Rights that El Salvador should protect her life and help her end the pregnancy.

The Health Ministry stepped in late last week after the ruling and said it would allow the C-section because the pregnancy was already at 26 weeks and the country's strict abortion laws were no longer at play. Ultrasound images had indicated her fetus was developing with only a brain stem.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Ill-Salvadoran-woman-denied-abortion-has-C-section-4573464.php

[PCIntern]

16. no brain, eh?

a registered Republican from the get-go.
I know...tasteless. Sorry.

[Arugula Latte]

17. And the Catholic Church kills another woman.

Tell me again why I'm supposed to "respect" that institution and how I'm "bigoted" for pointing out its atrocities?

[rpannier]

18. If I read the story correctly, Beatriz, the mother survived

It's the baby that died

[ChairmanAgnostic]

26. both

[rpannier]

32. link please

I've gone to the Star Tribune, the Guardian, the Times-London, Reuters, Amnesty International and not one says the mother has died.

From AI

The life of “Beatriz” is no longer at risk after El Salvador’s government on Monday finally administered an early caesarean section to stop her from dying because of complications posed by a non-viable pregnancy and serious illness.

[Hubert Flottz]

20. Premeditated murder.

That really sucks.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. Really? How have you managed that conclusion?

The baby was never going to be able to survive. If they had not done the caesarian, the mother would have been at severe risk of dying. A normal abortion, as soon as the woman requested it, would have been preferable, but I can't see that anyone can call this 'premeditated murder'. Hell, I don't even think an anti-abortion extremist would go that far.

[RVN VET]

21. What a warm and wonderful story for the

"pro-life-until-birth-dead-or-alive crowd" Just the thing to tell your little girls on a cold winters day whilst you share tea and biscuits with them. How wonderful that the court in El Salvador allowed this little brainless body to emerge lifelessly from Beatriz's womb. How blessed of the court to torment poor Beatriz and her family, to force her to risk death to bring to term a sadly inert child. Just think, little nieces and grandchildren, each one of you may have the same opportunity to be blessed by a court in America -- if only we can overturn the decision by the evil Supreme Court to permit women like Beatriz to terminate hopeless pregnancies, especially when they threaten the life of the girl carrying the lifeless fetus. In Jesus name, Amen.

Ah, to be a fundie in just spring!

(No wonder Jesus wept.)

[ReRe]

22. These stories are killing me...

... I have a niece, age 40, who is in her first successful pregnancy. With twins. She had a couple miscarriages when she was in her 20s. By this time, we had long given up on "B" having children. Seems to have great Doctors. Babies doing fine and both are healthy. Thing is, Auntie and Mamma are worried that she might not be able to carry them. They are ordering her to take a leave at half-way thru. We haven't told her (and won't, until those babies are born), but her great grandmother carried twin babies to term and they were stillborn. Had a total of 6 children, and only two lived to adulthood. So, we are naturally sitting on pins and needles and will be up to the day those babies are born in late Nov.

I remember a recent story about something like this situation with Beatriz down in Central America who needed an abortion. Can't remember if it was El Salvador. Didn't turn out good...I think the young woman died, along with the baby. I don't know why those countries insist on living in the past with their ultra religious beliefs. Pregnancy is fine and dandy when it goes smoothly, but sometimes it doesn't. And the life of the mother should always be protected. Down there, they just look at it as the winger fundamentalists do up here... i.e. if the mother and baby don't pull through, then it was "God's Will". BS. Save the mothers so they can live to have a viable pregnancy if they want to later on.