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Dangers of a forced caesarian Dangers of a forced caesarian
(3 days later)
Your editorial (18 August) confirms the inadequacy of the Irish Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act. But another shocking aspect of the case is that the young woman in question was legally forced to have a caesarian section at 25 weeks’ gestation. Although babies of this gestation can now survive with modern neonatal intensive care, the neonatal death rate is still high and the risk of handicap considerable. The effect on this young woman, allegedly raped in her own country, who asked for an abortion at eight weeks and was suicidal, of a forced caesarian can only increase her feeling of helplessness – another assault on her body. This case suggests that Irish doctors are living in the past century. Legal cases in the US in the 1980s and UK in the 1990s confirmed a woman’s right to refuse a caesarian even if that meant the death of the foetus or her own death. The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act should be repealed.Wendy SavageDoctors For a Woman’s Right to Abortion Your editorial (18 August) confirms the inadequacy of the Irish Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act. But another shocking aspect of the case is that the young woman in question was legally forced to have a caesarian section at 25 weeks’ gestation. Although babies of this gestation can now survive with modern neonatal intensive care, the neonatal death rate is still high and the risk of handicap considerable. The effect on this young woman, allegedly raped in her own country, who asked for an abortion at eight weeks and was suicidal, of a forced caesarian can only increase her feeling of helplessness – another assault on her body. This case suggests that Irish doctors are living in the past century. Legal cases in the US in the 1980s and UK in the 1990s confirmed a woman’s right to refuse a caesarian even if that meant the death of the foetus or her own death. The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act should be repealed.Wendy SavageDoctors For a Woman’s Choice on Abortion
• This article was amended on 25 August 2014 to correct the name of Wendy Savage’s organisation.