Here’s a nice one from 1998, via Stacy. Not Ireland – Louisiana.
Michelle Lee knows she should not have another child. Her heart pumps so weakly and irregularly that she has waited 2 1/2 years for a new one. The strain that pregnancy puts on the body, her doctors had sternly warned her for years, might kill her.
So last month, when she discovered she had accidentally gotten pregnant, Lee, 26, faced an agonizing prospect: saving her fetus or saving herself. She loves babies. Yet, finally, she went to Louisiana State University Medical Center, the century-old hospital whose cardiologists tend to her heart, and said she wanted an abortion.
The hospital refused.
A committee of five LSU doctors concluded that Lee’s chance of dying was not greater than 50 percent. And under Louisiana law, a public hospital could not perform an abortion on Lee unless her life were endangered. They decided her case didn’t meet the test.
Meh. 50 percent. Those are pretty good odds.
ARRRGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
like i said, unless youre actually CODING then youre not DYING right? so your life isnt at risk just your HEALTH & we all know that mere HEALTH of the mother isnt a good excuse for an abortion….
….but seriously it is an article of faith among prolifers, even prolife mothers, that nobody EVER dies in pregnancy now because C Sections….if you ask why they had a d&c for their miscarriages you get no answer….or because shut up that’s why….
I saw a phrase on the Onion that seemed oddly appropriate: Pro Government Choice. Who cares about life, or your choice? The government gets to decide if you have an abortion.
“Pro Government Choice” Nice shot, though I will still refer to the majority “Pro-Life!!!” nuts as pro-misery and the extreme “Not even to save a woman’s life!” wing as PRO-DEATH.
BTW, I’ve seen it attributed to “The Devil’s Dictionary”, but I haven’t been able to find the source of this definition:
GOVERNMENT: An organization that both exhibits the power and asserts the moral right to kill anyone within its domain who refuses to obey its orders.
She should have asked the doctor “If you had a 50 percent chance of dying today — or a few months from now — and could quickly and effectively remove the source of danger, would you consider the risk insignificant?”
Unfortunately, had I been in the same situation, my weak heart would have exploded from fury before I got the words out.
I’d be curious to know how many other procedures are there that would only be performed if the patients chances of survival were worse then a coin flip. Particularly when its an established procedure with a known success rate. Not many is probably the safe bet.
If her doctors will all take a six shot revolver loaded with three bullets, chamber spun, put it to their heads and pull the trigger, then maybe we could accept their view about those odds.
She should have pointed a gun at him and said, “There is one bullet in here, and there is a 50/50 chance it is a dud, and 50/50 it is real. Are you going to let me fire it at you, or do the abortion?”
That ought to put things in perspective.
Sorry, anthrosciguy! I didn’t see your comment. Your method is superior, obviously lol