Jivin J’s Life Links 5-17-10
by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat
The first-in-the-nation system allows a Planned Parenthood physician from Des Moines to visit with each patient by video conference, then press a computer button to open a drawer in front of the patient, who could be seated up to 190 miles away. The patient then reaches into the drawer and withdraws the abortion pills….
One night I couldn’t breathe and my dad took me to A&E but they just sent me home saying it was a panic attack. The doctor’s said the tumour might have been there my whole life but it was only the pregnancy hormones that allowed it to grow.
It was a shock to be told that I have tumour in my chest without even really realising it. Some of my family had told me I should have an abortion because of the risks to me to have any surgery, but I knew I had to go through with it for [baby] Layla.
It involved a serious illness, pulmonary hypertension. The condition limits the ability of the heart and lungs to function and is made worse, possibly even fatal, by pregnancy.
In a statement issued to The Republic late Friday, the diocese confirmed that Olmsted learned of the case after the surgery.
“I am gravely concerned by the fact that an abortion was performed several months ago in a Catholic hospital in this diocese,” Olmsted said. “I am further concerned by the hospital’s statement that the termination of a human life was necessary to treat the mother’s underlying medical condition.
Here are statements from the Diocese of Phoenix and St. Joseph’s.
[Ellington photo via Telegraph; McBride photo via CatholicSun.org]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
In the article from AP…. I posted on my blog how Daily Kos is calling for a boycott of TN because of their passage of the law banning tax payer abortions in the new healthcare legislation and of course they want to boycott AZ. Well I point out that FL, MO, MS have passed their version and sent to the gov. desk and as this report shows 27 states in all looking to do the same thing. Daily Kos is going to have to radically restrict their travel and business or just stay in NY.
Does not a nun know that a cild in the womb is the “least of these”.
If you could kill a baby in the womb you could kill Christ.
Doesn’t that Bishop know that failure to get this abortion could have killed the mother?
Gee… Sister McBride doesn’t dress in her habit… what a shock…
Hi Hal.
Nice to talk with you again. In this case then, the “principle of double effect” applies whereby you may remove the fetus in an attempt to save the mother but if the fetus dies as a conseqyence, no evil has been done. In other words, what should have happened in this situation can be likened to a triage situation. You have two people (mother and child) whose lives are bothy in danger. The doctor should do everything he can to try and save both lives, but he has to make his best judgement about who he can realistically save. But the principle taht one may never violate is that one can never directly do an evil to bring about a good. In this case, an evil (abortion) was directly done to bring about a good (saving the mother’s life). The mother was saved AS A RESULT of the killing of the fetus which is always wrong. Rather, they should have induced labor and given birth or removed the baby via c-section and attempted to save the babies life. This would have had the same effect (saving the mother’s life), but without directly killing the baby. True, the baby would have still died most liekly, but remember that when we are considering the morality of an action, we look not only at the ends, but also the means. Just like it is moral in a triage situation to make prudential judgements that you wouldn’t normally do to try and save the most lives possible, so too may you induce an early pregnancy or remove the fetus via c-section in order to save the mother’s life even if you are 100% certain that such an action would result in th death of the fetus. God love you, Hal.
Posted by: Susie at May 17, 2010 1:15 PM
We should be so lucky. I hope Daily Kos does start boycotting everybody who bans abortions from their states. It’d be nice not to ever hear from them ever again.
Well…okay, from the health care plan enacted in their state. Still working on the banning of abortion entirely from any state, but hopefully we can get that done soonish too. :)
Rather, they should have induced labor and given birth or removed the baby via c-section and attempted to save the babies life.
Bobby thanks for the explanation…but is it how do they do a c section or induce labor on an 11week old baby? Would another way be to treat the woman’s illness without directly killing the child?
HI Susie.
My guess is that you would induce or c-section the same way you do them normally. My wife was induced for both pregnancys via a pitocin drip and some other drug (I wanna say Mifepristone, but I”m pretty sure that isn’t correct… it sounds like Mifepristone) which I would assume you could do in 11 weeks.
I’m not a medical expert, and so when it comes to specific cases, I actually can not say. I should have been more clear that I was using the specific case as a paradigm example of what one needs to do in a life-of-the-mother situation. There may be other alternatives, but it seems to me that either inducing early labor or a c-section will ALWAYS work as a LAST possible alternative to any life-of-the-mother situation. But again, I’m no medical expert and there may be other better alternatives for both mother and baby. God love you.
My extended comments on the entire issue surrounding Sister McBride’s decision and potentially where she went wrong:
http://gerardnadal.com/2010/05/17/the-bishop-the-nun-the-mother-and-child/
“The first-in-the-nation system allows a Planned Parenthood physician from Des Moines to visit with each patient by video conference, then press a computer button to open a drawer in front of the patient, who could be seated up to 190 miles away. The patient then reaches into the drawer and withdraws the abortion pills….”
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Another permutation of the b.o. hellth scare system.