Salon.com > reproductive justice

Critically ill woman faces jail time if she goes forward with lifesaving abortion

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:32:00 +0000

According to a report from Amnesty International, a seriously ill and pregnant El Salvadorian woman may face jail time if she goes forward with a lifesaving and medically recommended abortion. Abortion is illegal under all circumstances in El Salvador.

The 22-year-old mother of one, identified only as Beatriz, is four-and-a-half months pregnant, but her doctors have confirmed that the fetus has anencephaly (developing without a brain and certain parts of the skull) and that the pregnancy is nonviable. In addition to the fetal diagnosis, Beatriz is experiencing critical health complications related to her lupus and kidney disease.

The hospital treating Beatriz requested legal permission to perform the abortion more than a month ago, but authorities have still not agreed to let them proceed. Now, if government policy and religious ideology interfering with a woman's right to access abortion care or a doctor's ability to exercise medical judgment and save a woman's life sounds familiar, it should.

Chuck Grassley: Accidental abortion rights advocate

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:12:00 +0000

Twitter haiku enthusiast Sen. Chuck Grassley has a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee and a subzero ranking from NARAL.

So what's he doing going on about a constitutional right to privacy -- the very backbone of Roe v. Wade?

As Kalli Joy Gray reported, Grassley was recently asked by a constituent about the government's "plan" to implant microchips in preschoolers starting in 2013. A rather bored looking Grassley replied:

No. First of all, nothing can be done to your body without your permission. It’d be a violation of the constitutional right to privacy if that were to happen.

First, let's address the semantic point that, in a country without legal abortion, forced pregnancy would definitely be something "done to your body without your permission," thankyouverymuch.

Roe v. Who? Young Americans clueless about abortion case

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:24:00 +0000

Roe v. Wade will turn 40 next week, and that's big news.

But as we mark the anniversary of the landmark ruling guaranteeing a woman's constitutional right to safe and legal abortion services, efforts to block women's access in the United States are more common than ever.

That's why recent findings from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life are so surprising. While 62 percent of Americans know that Roe v. Wade dealt with abortion rights, just 44 percent of people under 30 years old can correctly identify the nature of the Supreme Court decision.

What's more, a majority of Americans in the post-Roe generation -- 62 percent, in fact -- also say that they don’t consider abortion to be a critical issue facing the country.

Say what?

According to a policy review released by the Guttmacher Institute, 2012 saw the second-highest number of abortion restrictions ever enacted (2011 came in first). And while Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock became household names, one of the House’s staunchest antiabortion members got second billing on the Republican presidential ticket.