#Savita Halappavanar

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Cassandra Jaramillo and Kavitha Surana at ProPublica:

Josseli Barnica grieved the news as she lay in a Houston hospital bed on Sept. 3, 2021: The sibling she’d dreamt of giving her daughter would not survive this pregnancy. The fetus was on the verge of coming out, its head pressed against her dilated cervix; she was 17 weeks pregnant and a miscarriage was “in progress,” doctors noted in hospital records. At that point, they should have offered to speed up the delivery or empty her uterus to stave off a deadly infection, more than a dozen medical experts told ProPublica.

But when Barnica’s husband rushed to her side from his job on a construction site, she relayed what she said the medical team had told her: “They had to wait until there was no heartbeat,” he told ProPublica in Spanish. “It would be a crime to give her an abortion.” For 40 hours, the anguished 28-year-old mother prayed for doctors to help her get home to her daughter; all the while, her uterus remained exposed to bacteria. Three days after she delivered, Barnica died of an infection. Barnica is one of at least two Texas women who ProPublica found lost their lives after doctors delayed treating miscarriages, which fall into a gray area under the state’s strict abortion laws that prohibit doctors from ending the heartbeat of a fetus. Neither had wanted an abortion, but that didn’t matter. Though proponents insist that the laws protect both the life of the fetus and the person carrying it, in practice, doctors have hesitated to provide care under threat of prosecution, prison time and professional ruin.

ProPublica is telling these women’s stories this week, starting with Barnica’s. Her death was “preventable,” according to more than a dozen medical experts who reviewed a summary of her hospital and autopsy records at ProPublica’s request; they called her case “horrific,” “astounding” and “egregious.”

The doctors involved in Barnica’s care at HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest did not respond to multiple requests for comment on her case. In a statement, HCA Healthcare said “our responsibility is to be in compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations” and said that physicians exercise their independent judgment. The company did not respond to a detailed list of questions about Barnica’s care. Like all states, Texas has a committee of maternal health experts who review such deaths to recommend ways to prevent them, but the committee’s reports on individual cases are not public and members said they have not finished examining cases from 2021, the year Barnica died. ProPublica is working to fill gaps in knowledge about the consequences of abortion bans. Reporters scoured death data, flagging Barnica’s case for its concerning cause of death: “sepsis” involving “products of conception.” We tracked down her family, obtained autopsy and hospital records and enlisted a range of experts to review a summary of her care that ProPublica created in consultation with two doctors.

Among those experts were more than a dozen OB-GYNs and maternal-fetal medicine specialists from across the country, including researchers at prestigious institutions, doctors who regularly handle miscarriages and experts who have served on state maternal mortality review committees or held posts at national professional medical organizations. After reviewing the four-page summary, which included the timeline of care noted in hospital records, all agreed that requiring Barnica to wait to deliver until after there was no detectable fetal heartbeat violated professional medical standards because it could allow time for an aggressive infection to take hold. They said there was a good chance she would have survived if she was offered an intervention earlier.

“If this was Massachusetts or Ohio, she would have had that delivery within a couple hours,” said Dr. Susan Mann, a national patient safety expert in obstetric care who teaches at Harvard University. Many noted a striking similarity to the case of Savita Halappavanar, a 31-year-old woman who died of septic shock in 2012 after providers in Ireland refused to empty her uterus while she was miscarrying at 17 weeks. When she begged for care, a midwife told her, “This is a Catholic country.” The resulting investigation and public outcry galvanized the country to change its strict ban on abortion. But in the wake of deaths related to abortion access in the United States, leaders who support restricting the right have not called for any reforms.

[...]

“They Should Vote With Their Feet”

Texas has been on the forefront of fighting abortion access. At the time of Barnica’s miscarriage in 2021, the Supreme Court had not yet overturned the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. But Texas lawmakers, intent on being the first to enact a ban with teeth, had already passed a harsh civil law using a novel legal strategy that circumvented Roe v. Wade: It prohibited doctors from performing an abortion after six weeks by giving members of the public incentives to sue doctors for $10,000 judgments. The bounty also applied to anyone who “aided and abetted” an abortion.

A year later, after the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling was handed down, an even stricter criminal law went into effect, threatening doctors with up to 99 years in prison and $100,000 in fines. Soon after the ruling, the Biden administration issued federal guidance reminding doctors in hospital emergency rooms they have a duty to treat pregnant patients who need to be stabilized, including by providing abortions for miscarriages. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fought against that, arguing that following the guidance would force doctors to “commit crimes” under state law and make every hospital a “walk-in abortion clinic.” When a Dallas woman asked a court for approval to end her pregnancy because her fetus was not viable and she faced health risks if she carried it to term, Paxton fought to keep her pregnant. He argued her doctor hadn’t proved it was an emergency and threatened to prosecute anyone who helped her. “Nothing can restore the unborn child’s life that will be lost as a result,” he wrote to the court.

No doctor in Texas, or the 20 other states that criminalize abortion, has been prosecuted for violating a state ban. But the possibility looms over their every decision, dozens of doctors in those states told ProPublica, forcing them to consider their own legal risks as they navigate their patient’s health emergencies. The lack of clarity has resulted in many patients being denied care. In 2023, Texas lawmakers made a small concession to the outcry over the uncertainty the ban was creating in hospitals. They created a new exception for ectopic pregnancies, a potentially fatal condition where the embryo attaches outside the uterine cavity, and for cases where a patient’s membranes rupture prematurely before viability, which introduces a high risk of infection. Doctors can still face prosecution, but are allowed to make the case to a judge or jury that their actions were protected, not unlike self-defense arguments after homicides. Barnica’s condition would not have clearly fit this exception.

This year, after being directed to do so by the state Supreme Court, the Texas Medical Board released new guidance telling doctors that an emergency didn’t need to be “imminent” in order to intervene and advising them to provide extra documentation regarding risks. But in a recent interview, the board’s president, Dr. Sherif Zaafran, acknowledged that these efforts only go so far and the group has no power over criminal law: “There’s nothing we can do to stop a prosecutor from filing charges against the physicians.” Asked what he would tell Texas patients who are miscarrying and unable to get treatment, he said they should get a second opinion: “They should vote with their feet and go and seek guidance from somebody else.”

The consequences of strict abortion bans are being felt, as Josseli Barnica died as a result of delayed miscarriage treatments in Texas.

[maeraevokaya]

I find myself thinking about Savita Halappavanar, who was denied an abortion and subsequently died from sepsis. The fetus she was carrying was already being miscarried; she didn't know of this fact until she was 17 weeks along. Ireland had a "Heartbeat Bill" at the time, which meant that if the fetus has a detectable heartbeat, an abortion cannot be performed. Her death sparked outrage and protests, which caused Ireland to change its abortion laws.

[vorpalgazebo]

I’m salty

I’m feeling salty today. I had a birthday, a shitty inauguration, a rollercoaster ride of a women’s march, and the 1 year anniversary of my Dad’s death.

I’m seriously annoyed at the world so this is going to be a rant.I’m going to be snarky and just not give two flying fucks. 

First off, you are not a better person to point out a vulgar sign, a broken window, what the women look like, or the mess of signs after the protest. Doing this while ignoring the message, says to me that you have no argument. I mean, I am sure the KKK’s message has a lot more validity because they swept up the ashes from their burning crosses. How many people said, “Wow! I am more convinced of the KKK’s message because they cleaned up after themselves! I should get out of the country because of my inferior skin color” Here’s a hint, no one.

Second off, broken windows and clashing with police happens not because they are inherently violent or animals but because these people felt they ran out of options! Holding a sign didn’t work. Writing to their congressmen didn’t work. Voting didn’t work. And yet they still feel the pain of themselves and their fellow countrypeople and want change. What else do they have left? You can stop this by sitting down, shutting up, and fucking listening. No one wants your opinion because you have been able to give your opinion for 200 + years. Listen to the marginalized because they have been silent for so long. If you have questions, find the answers. Then be a part of the change.

If you are in pain, and everyone ignores you -- like let’s say you’re on fire -- and people say, “Oh that isn’t that bad. You’re making a big deal out of nothing.” or “Why don’t you wait your turn! The doctor can’t see everyone.” or “That is nothing, you should see the people who are on fire in the Middle East”. What are you going to do? You stop drop and roll and in the process, you knock over a table. And you get scolded for it. But you had to find a way to put out the fire.

I’m tired of the whole “well, he has a woman in his cabinet so he can’t be sexist” or insert minority group here. These minorities run on the idea that I’m not like THOSE women or THOSE blacks or THOSE queer people. These people aren’t freethinkers, bursting off the plantation of civil rights. They are people who want to be in power or acceptance and do so by sucking up to the system that will not give them either. But here’s the harsh reality, the system doesn’t care about them and will only use them as a rhetorical device. If the people you’re hanging with say stuff like, “Bob, I like you because you aren’t like THOSE gay people” then you’re being used as a shield against accusations against bigotry. Like I am sure that when Emperor Titus destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, he turned to his adviser, Romanized Jewish former priest Josephus and thought, “I don’t hate Jewish people! Josephus is by my side!

The US is not the worst place to live. I am fully aware there are terrible places on this planet like North Korea, Saudi Arabia, under ISIS’s regime. However, that doesn’t mean America cannot stand to be improved. We have lawmakers completely preoccupied with the fear that transgender people will molest children in toilets which is based on NO FACTS AT ALL. That is a problem.

If you don’t like abortion, that’s fine. I’m not a huge fan either. But if you are calling for laws to ban it, you cannot be pro-women. I’m sorry. You can’t. Abortion laws harm way more women than they save. The idea that abortions harm women is based on faulty science. Also, if you are pro-life and against universal health care, you are pro-fetus and anti-life. That is why I made my joke last night. Why don’t we propose a system in which unwanted babies get assigned to those who are pro-life. You have no choice in the matter. Here, take them. Furthermore, there is this assumption that pro-choice women love having abortions. Or that all abortions are used as a form of birth control. That is such a small percentage of abortions it is ridiculous. Sadly, some abortions happen even if the woman wanted to keep the baby because of health risks.

Here’s a thought exercise for you. Go study the laws of countries that have strict anti-abortion laws. There is so much red tape that women who have to abort due to health complications can and do die. I watched one such country debate this in their parliament (Ireland, it was in response to this: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/11/savita-halappavanar-abortion-ireland-medical-team-disciplined). The dean of medicines that testified universally said all that the restrictions made it sometimes impossible to save women. And don’t get me started on illegal abortions. Yeah I have very little sympathy for the pro-life women who  said they weren’t treated nicely at the women’s march. I will defend you against bigotry and misogyny but not against your calls for anti-women policies unless they have to do with calls for easier to obtain birth control (because studies show that does the best at preventing abortion!).

The women’s march was awesome but don’t kid yourself. If this was a march of more minorities than white women, there is a chance the march would have met with clashes from police. MOST BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTS WERE PEACEFUL and the police tear gassed or pepper sprayed them anyway.

Also, NOT ALL WOMEN HAVE VAGINAS! Please remember our transgender sisters.

[heartbreakerwgst-blog]

Protesting Abroad: Abortion in Ireland

Of course, abortion is not just a hot topic in the United States, but discussed and contested all across the globe. While women in several states across the US, such as Ohio, have been forced to fight various abortion restrictions, protests in Poland, Ireland, and Northern Ireland have been increasing in recent years due to the illegality of abortion in these countries. Abortion is currently illegal in Ireland and Northern Ireland except in cases of mental or physical illness and is illegal in Poland except for cases of rape and if carrying the baby to full term would cause death to the mother or child ("Abortion & Irish Law"; Domonoske). Despite the fact that these laws have been in place for decades, women in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Poland have clearly not given up hope in reversing these laws and making safe abortion legal and are all the more incensed by recent events in their respective countries.

Currently, women in Ireland who are not considered to be mentally or physically ill enough to receive an abortion must travel to neighboring countries where abortion is legal or illegally order pills that induce abortion online (Fox). Perhaps most horrifying about Ireland and Northern Ireland’s abortion laws is the aggressive punishment for women found guilty of receiving an illegal abortion: a possible sentence of life in prison in Northern Ireland and up to 14 years imprisonment in Ireland (How Women Use Medication Abortion). On International Women’s Day this past March, women across Ireland and Northern Ireland protested their countries’ abortion laws. These protests show a strong backing for abortion law reform, which is up for recommendation by The Citizens’ Assembly at the end of April after it was recommended by the UN’s human rights committee that Ireland should consider reforming their strict laws.

Though abortion rights will likely be evergreen in their relevance to society, Ireland’s current state of activism was reinvigorated after a 2012 tragedy. In 2012, Savita Halappavanar was denied an abortion at a hospital in Galway, Ireland, even after being told her baby would be eventually miscarried, as Ireland is a “Catholic country” and it is illegal to abort a fetus. Savita was forced to give birth to a stillborn baby and died shortly after (Harrison). Halappavanar’s death caused national outcry from abortion rights supporters and added new fuel to the debate over abortion rights. Though Ireland and Northern Ireland’s abortion laws are clearly much more strict than the United States’, Halappavanar’s story is reminiscent of the US’ long battle with itself to keep the Church and State separate. Religious values are often cited by those who consider themselves pro - life, as for many religions, such as Christianity, abortion is considered to be murder and therefore offensive to one’s moral and religious beliefs. However, consider for a moment people like Halappavanar who did not identify as Catholic and yet was still denied an abortion simply because the country she resided in was considered to be traditionally Catholic. Is this denial of an abortion not forcing religious principles upon someone? By denying Halappavanar an abortion, wasn’t she also denied her own right to develop her own morals and beliefs? Though Halappavanar was an Irish citizen, her story can be viewed as a tragic reminder of the perils of blurring the lines between State and Church. Though Ireland and Northern Ireland are many miles away, it is important to remain aware of the legislation affecting access to abortion across the globe so we can learn from each other and advocate for each other.

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References:

Domonoske, Camila. "Polish Women Hold 'Black Monday' Strike To Protest Proposed Abortion Ban." NPR. NPR, 04 Oct. 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

Fox, Kara. "Ireland Protests Abortion Ban on Women's Day." CNN. Cable News Network, 09 Mar. 2017. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

Harrison, Shane. "Woman Dies after Abortion Request 'refused' at Galway Hospital." BBC News. BBC, 14 Nov. 2012. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.

"Abortion & Irish Law." Abortion & Irish Law | Irish Family Planning Association. N.p., n.d. Web.18 Apr. 2017.

"How Women Use Medication Abortion in Ireland and Northern Ireland." Time. Time, 18 Oct. 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.