Raped by her uncle, but can she have an abortion? (1 Viewer)

[miss-smexy]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/ra...ave-an-abortion/2008/06/26/1214073379526.html

June 26, 2008 - 6:39AM


Romania's health minister said on Wednesday a government committee will decide this week whether an 11-year-old who was raped by her uncle can go to Britain for an abortion or must continue the pregnancy.

The case, which surfaced earlier this month, has bitterly divided the medical community, child rights groups and the public.
The girl is 20 weeks pregnant, which is over the legal limit for abortions in Romania.
Her parents say they found out she was pregnant on June 2 when they took her to a doctor because she seemed unwell. She told doctors that she had been raped by her 19-year-old uncle, who has since disappeared.
Two local committees in northeast Romania where she lives have passed contradictory rulings.
One committee said the girl should be allowed to have a legal abortion in Britain, as her parents want. A Romanian living in Britain has volunteered to finance the costs. On Wednesday, the parents received passports.
Another committee ruled that because both the mother and fetus are healthy, the girl should give birth. Abortions beyond 14 weeks are illegal unless the pregnancy threatens the mother's health.
In Britain an abortion is legal up to 24 weeks if two doctors decide that the risk to a woman's physical or mental health will be greater if she continues with the pregnancy than if she ends it.
The National Child Protection Authority said the girl should be allowed to have an abortion because she is already traumatized by the experience of rape and pregnancy.
The National Doctors Council said that the rights of the fetus should be considered and the pregnancy should go ahead. They argued that abortion laws should not be liberalized further.
The Orthodox Church, to which most Romanians belong, called the case "an exceptional situation which must be treated in an exceptional manner and the family is the only one to take this decision," church spokesman Constantin Stoica said Wednesday.
He said the church considers abortion a crime, but this belief applies to normal circumstances, and not to incest or rape.
Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu said the case was delicate because it involved medicine, the law and morality. A government committee will publish a decision on the girl on Friday.

Foetuses are not human beings. They do not have rights... perhaps only at the point of viability - but nevertheless, a foetus has no legal right to live.



...Your thoughts?

 

[inasero]

1) the problem is when does a foetus start to become "viable". Much as we try to put a figure to it, there have been instances where medical professionals have though survival impossible and yet the child goes on to develop normally.

2) if you think about it, most embryos are viable since they have the potential to go on and develop normally without any intervention- and that involves the blastocyst stage

3) who are we to play God and decide who lives and who dies?

 

[Mumma]

Its going to ruin the girls life. There's no question that she should be allowed to go ahead with an abortion. How long shes been pregnant is a non-issue in this case (unless its reached a point where it would be dangerous to have an abortion or something along those lines).

 

[miss-smexy]

1) the problem is when does a foetus start to become "viable". Much as we try to put a figure to it, there have been instances where medical professionals have though survival impossible and yet the child goes on to develop normally.

2) if you think about it, most embryos are viable since they have the potential to go on and develop normally without any intervention- and that involves the blastocyst stage

3) who are we to play God and decide who lives and who dies?

Regarding viability - I would argue that viability is the point that the foetus can survive without the need of the mother's womb - not necessarily just at birth, but also certain stages before.

If you think about it, foetuses are like parasites as they need their mother for survival. They therefore shouldn't be given human rights. Also, if we were to give foetuses rights, then how about the mother's right? ...It goes against equality of rights.

 

[scarybunny]

I would say yes, because I think that the ability and desire of the mother to raise a child is a factor in the abortion debate.

If you don't want a child, you shouldn't be forced to carry it.

 

[*TRUE*]

Surely the child cannot give birth without it being very dangerous physically?
I dont think having a baby ruins people's lives.
But having a baby whilst little more than a baby oneself...
What a horrible decision.
Poor child.

 

[Hollieee]

She's 11 years old for Christ's sake. There's no way in hell she should be forced to have it. And on top of that, it was her uncles, so that raises the incest issue. What an awful situation. I'm not saying I think abortion is a good thing, but you should be forced to have a child. Nor should you be forced to abort it. Its pretty terrible either way.
Imagine the emotional scarring?
And Miss_Smexy, you're insane. I agree she has a right to an abortion, but what kind of person are you, talking about a new and fragile life like it was a tick. Geez. The world has gone mad.

 

[scarybunny]

Given the choice, I pick tick.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

She's 11 and she was raped by her uncle. If you think the right of the unborn kid to life is greater than an 11 year old girl's right to sanity and a not-totally-ruined life then you're a spack and gtfo. I think it's pretty clear what the right choice is here.

 

[boris]

Even the Romanian Churches agree that abortion is perfectly acceptable in circumstances of rape and incest.

 

[boris]

This is how I see it.

Nobody is denying that a fetus in a human is a human. I mean shit, it's not a carrier pigeon.

What I see is, until that fetus is a viable entity on its own (i.e can sustain life outside the womb) and is not dependent on its mother for life, the rights of the mother are paramount over the rights of an unviable "life".

 

[Serius]

what about outside the uterus? should we be able to kill a retard because its not viable, it cant get food for itself or function in society?

 

[boris]

Yes.

 

[jmp08077]

sigh...she's going to have a rapist's son because some ppl believe that the unborn baby's right is more important than the girl's right to live a normal life.

 

[emytaylor164]

sigh...she's going to have a rapist's son because some ppl believe that the unborn baby's right is more important than the girl's right to live a normal life.

after she has the baby what is stopping her from giving it up for adoption, better then killing a human life.

 

[boris]

after she has the baby what is stopping her from giving it up for adoption, better then killing a human life.

Yeah great, because giving a baby up for adoption is such an easy thing.

So is having your rapists baby at 11.

Fuck I hate you fundies.

 

[Tully B.]

In my honest opinion, a fetus becomes a human life when it starts having complex brain waves. i.e. when it can survive (with medical support) outside of the mother's womb.

I think abortion is a terrible thing and I agree that it is slipping out of control in modern society; it is to some a simple means of contraception. To others, it is a means by which thy can have a baby of the "correct" gender, which I think is equally atrocious. However, this should not waver a woman's right in having an abortion.

I do not know the exact statistic as to after how many weeks a fetus becomes a human life, and so I won't make a judgement on this particular case.

 

[boris]

A simple means of contraception?

Where do you people get your sources and statistics from. We have one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the Western World. This trend alone demonstrates that those who are most frequently accused of having abortions (young people with lax views towards sex and contraception) are infact not. Infact it's grown women who already have children that make up quite a large portion of people opting to have abortions.

I'd also like to ask whether you anti abortionists think it's better to have a bucketload of unwanted children floating around if the number of abortions allowed was to decrease.

 

[boris]

I do not know the exact statistic as to after how many weeks a fetus becomes a human life, and so I won't make a judgement on this particular case

It's a freaking human from the moment of conception. I mean shit, it's not a cat is it. Nor is it a carrier pigeon. There is no debate over whether it's a human life, because quite simply it is. The argument is whether the rights of an unborn fetus that cannot survive as an entity without the mother are paramount over the rights of a female to choose whether or not to go through with a pregnancy.

 

[emytaylor164]

Yeah great, because giving a baby up for adoption is such an easy thing.

So is having your rapists baby at 11.

Fuck I hate you fundies.

i never said it was easy did I. All i was saying is why kill a child.

another point why kill a child when there are 100's or thousands people wanting to adopt, i think give them the joy of a child that you do not want.

It is still a child no matter how it came about you should not kill it just because it s father caused its mother a lifetime of suffering that wasnt the childs fault