woman dies for want of a abortion

[Itchy]

I keep hearing people mention her family. Can anyone tell me is this her husband and father of the unborn child or is it the girls parents/brothers/sisters?
I'm just interested as I find it odd the father of the child hasn't been mentioned.
God forbid if I was in this position but if the doctors told me that my unborn child could be saved then I would want them to do everything they could to save him. If that meant keeping my wife on a life support machine then so be it.
I haven't asked my wife her opinion yet but I'm pretty sure she would want to do the same thing.

Agreed.
I can't help but feel the media stories about the family wanting to end the life of the mother are unsubstantiated and driven by a media that wants a liberal abortion regime. Even if this is not the case, i nonetheless find it very disturbing the the #repealthe8th fanatics are hi-jacking this tragic story to push their agenda.
And their agenda is to ultimately remove constitutional protection for the unborn thus effectively bringing in abortion on demand.... a horrendous proposition for me.
Let this case play out and keep the abortion debate/discussion completely seperate.

I agree with Laoislad. Its hard to imagine that any woman would want her child to die with her either. I don't understand what the family are looking for unless there is some other complication that is not in the public domain

[macdanger2]

I keep hearing people mention her family. Can anyone tell me is this her husband and father of the unborn child or is it the girls parents/brothers/sisters?
I'm just interested as I find it odd the father of the child hasn't been mentioned.
God forbid if I was in this position but if the doctors told me that my unborn child could be saved then I would want them to do everything they could to save him. If that meant keeping my wife on a life support machine then so be it.
I haven't asked my wife her opinion yet but I'm pretty sure she would want to do the same thing.

Agreed.
I can't help but feel the media stories about the family wanting to end the life of the mother are unsubstantiated and driven by a media that wants a liberal abortion regime. Even if this is not the case, i nonetheless find it very disturbing the the #repealthe8th fanatics are hi-jacking this tragic story to push their agenda.
And their agenda is to ultimately remove constitutional protection for the unborn thus effectively bringing in abortion on demand.... a horrendous proposition for me.
Let this case play out and keep the abortion debate/discussion completely seperate.

I agree with Laoislad. Its hard to imagine that any woman would want her child to die with her either. I don't understand what the family are looking for unless there is some other complication that is not in the public domain

It sounds like there's something more to the story alright in terms of the family situation, hard to know what though.

It's impossible to legislate for something like this so the wording of the 8th ammendment seems irrelevant to me

[Maguire01]

I keep hearing people mention her family. Can anyone tell me is this her husband and father of the unborn child or is it the girls parents/brothers/sisters?
I'm just interested as I find it odd the father of the child hasn't been mentioned.
God forbid if I was in this position but if the doctors told me that my unborn child could be saved then I would want them to do everything they could to save him. If that meant keeping my wife on a life support machine then so be it.
I haven't asked my wife her opinion yet but I'm pretty sure she would want to do the same thing.

Agreed.
I can't help but feel the media stories about the family wanting to end the life of the mother are unsubstantiated and driven by a media that wants a liberal abortion regime. Even if this is not the case, i nonetheless find it very disturbing the the #repealthe8th fanatics are hi-jacking this tragic story to push their agenda.
And their agenda is to ultimately remove constitutional protection for the unborn thus effectively bringing in abortion on demand.... a horrendous proposition for me.
Let this case play out and keep the abortion debate/discussion completely seperate.

It's only in the news because the family want to turn off the life support. Best to know the basics of the story before commenting on it.

[AZOffaly]

The baby's father wants to let the baby die as well?

[RealSpiritof98]

We are bombarded constantly to have a donor card so that our organs could save another life, yet so many want to quit on this baby. i just cant for the life of me wonder why the family would not want to save the life of the baby. That said i do not know the personal circumstances but after discussing this with my wife, much like throwing myself in front of a bullet for my kids i would happily be kept alive for the sake of them surviving.

[mylestheslasher]

I keep hearing people mention her family. Can anyone tell me is this her husband and father of the unborn child or is it the girls parents/brothers/sisters?
I'm just interested as I find it odd the father of the child hasn't been mentioned.
God forbid if I was in this position but if the doctors told me that my unborn child could be saved then I would want them to do everything they could to save him. If that meant keeping my wife on a life support machine then so be it.
I haven't asked my wife her opinion yet but I'm pretty sure she would want to do the same thing.

Agreed.
I can't help but feel the media stories about the family wanting to end the life of the mother are unsubstantiated and driven by a media that wants a liberal abortion regime. Even if this is not the case, i nonetheless find it very disturbing the the #repealthe8th fanatics are hi-jacking this tragic story to push their agenda.
And their agenda is to ultimately remove constitutional protection for the unborn thus effectively bringing in abortion on demand.... a horrendous proposition for me.
Let this case play out and keep the abortion debate/discussion completely seperate.

It's only in the news because the family want to turn off the life support. Best to know the basics of the story before commenting on it.

Do you think anyone on here knows the basics of the story? It all sounds very strange to me that a family would not keep the mother on life support until the child is delivered. There has to be another angle to it. What is depressing is the immediate taking of sides the pro life v the pro abortion, both assume they know whats happening and take up their positions on a case they can know f**k all about.

[seafoid]

There is a shocking article in the Irish Times about the case today. The woman is brain dead and she is being kept going mechanically. It sounds grotesque. Has this ever happened before anywhere, even in a catholic country?

[Boycey]

There is a shocking article in the Irish Times about the case today. The woman is brain dead and she is being kept going mechanically. It sounds grotesque. Has this ever happened before anywhere, even in a catholic country?

I read said article today and found it very sobering and disturbing....

As someone else said further up the page its sad the entrenched views people have on the topic. I was in the doctors surgery Monday morning when the story came on the radio,  a woman who 2 minutes hadn't heard the story was suddenly a world authority on the subject and was running down "that abortion crowd", she even referenced Michael Schumacher as a reason this woman had to be kept alive.

Sad all round

[mylestheslasher]

There is a shocking article in the Irish Times about the case today. The woman is brain dead and she is being kept going mechanically. It sounds grotesque. Has this ever happened before anywhere, even in a catholic country?

I read said article today and found it very sobering and disturbing....

As someone else said further up the page its sad the entrenched views people have on the topic. I was in the doctors surgery Monday morning when the story came on the radio,  a woman who 2 minutes hadn't heard the story was suddenly a world authority on the subject and was running down "that abortion crowd", she even referenced Michael Schumacher as a reason this woman had to be kept alive.

Sad all round

That was me. I was referring mostly to the usual suspects on twitter jumping in without having a clue what the circumstances were and the same is probably true for many on this board. I am personally in the middle on this abortion debate, I think it is impossible to legislate for every scenario

[muppet]

The baby's father wants to let the baby die as well?

The medical advice seems to be that there is little chance of the baby surviving. If the family have accepted that, then I can see why they would wan't to move on from the awful scenario they find themselves in.

However, for me, if there was a chance that the baby could make it, I would probably see it differently.

[Maguire01]

I keep hearing people mention her family. Can anyone tell me is this her husband and father of the unborn child or is it the girls parents/brothers/sisters?
I'm just interested as I find it odd the father of the child hasn't been mentioned.
God forbid if I was in this position but if the doctors told me that my unborn child could be saved then I would want them to do everything they could to save him. If that meant keeping my wife on a life support machine then so be it.
I haven't asked my wife her opinion yet but I'm pretty sure she would want to do the same thing.

Agreed.
I can't help but feel the media stories about the family wanting to end the life of the mother are unsubstantiated and driven by a media that wants a liberal abortion regime. Even if this is not the case, i nonetheless find it very disturbing the the #repealthe8th fanatics are hi-jacking this tragic story to push their agenda.
And their agenda is to ultimately remove constitutional protection for the unborn thus effectively bringing in abortion on demand.... a horrendous proposition for me.
Let this case play out and keep the abortion debate/discussion completely seperate.

It's only in the news because the family want to turn off the life support. Best to know the basics of the story before commenting on it.

Do you think anyone on here knows the basics of the story? It all sounds very strange to me that a family would not keep the mother on life support until the child is delivered. There has to be another angle to it. What is depressing is the immediate taking of sides the pro life v the pro abortion, both assume they know whats happening and take up their positions on a case they can know f**k all about.

No one knows all the facts, but I was responding to someone who had missed some of the basics that had been made public.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

As per the Irish Times today:

"She was pronounced clinically dead on December 3rd last, her condition is deteriorating and she displays puffiness of the torso, an open head wound, rotting brain, and also has several infections. A number of medical experts have said the prospect of the foetus surviving intact is small even if treatment continues."

If that was someone in my family, I'd want to take them off life support.

[Maguire01]

The baby's father wants to let the baby die as well?

It would appear so - http://www.thejournal.ie/woman-court-unborn-1849766-Dec2014/
The medical experts seem to be saying there's little chance the baby could be born alive.
It's a tragic situation - the family going through legal proceedings on Christmas Eve and St Stephen's Day, on top of the grief of losing their daughter / partner, it's a very sad case.

[Maguire01]

An embarrassing contribution from McDonnell on this one... particularly the bit in bold, which is just wrong.

Abortion: SDLP opposes changes to Northern Ireland law

The SDLP is to oppose changing the law to allow abortion in cases where women have been raped or are carrying a foetus with a lethal abnormality.

Northern Ireland's department of justice (DoJ) recently consulted the public on proposals to change the law.

The DoJ recommended allowing abortion in lethal abnormality cases but did not make recommendations for rape cases.

However, SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell said he is not persuaded of the need to change the abortion law in either case.

The south Belfast GP was speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politics programme.

Lethal foetal abnormality is where a baby in the womb has a condition which means it will die while either in the womb or shortly after birth.

Dr McDonnell said: "The SDLP is unequivocally opposed to abortion, even in those particular circumstances because basically, the predictions in those circumstances are never accurate," he said.

"Nobody can predict that a foetus is not viable, and that's the problem, and as a GP, I'm fully aware.

"I have seen situations where termination or an abortion was recommended to somebody because a foetus that had this, that or the other thing, and that foetus grew up to be a perfectly normal child."

Northern Ireland's abortion law differs from the rest of the UK.

Currently, a termination is only legal in Northern Ireland if a woman's life is at risk or if there is a risk of permanent and serious damage to her mental or physical health.

Proposals to change the law have been brought forward following publicity surrounding the case of Sarah Ewart.

She told the media of her traumatic experience of travelling to England for the termination of a baby who doctors believed would not survive outside the womb.



He also came out with: "So I mean, basically, who am I to decide if somebody should live or not?"
Indeed, it shouldn't be your decision, but you're the one denying women the choice.

Apart from Alliance, the political parties seem to be out of step with wider public opinion, in NI even more so that in the 26 counties. It's all the more illogical given that women travel to GB every day, so it's not a case of 'you can't have it', just a case of 'not here'.

[general_lee]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-35546399

Delay tactics from DUP and outright denial from SDLP on amending abortion legislation in NI in the case of 'fatal foetal abnormality'. The Assembly voted against this as well as amendment for cases of rape or incest. Are these people thick? It's not like people in NI can't go to Britain to get this done, why not just let them have it done here and save them more trauma of having go on a plane to England!