Thursday, March 05, 2009

This Is What "Forced Birth" Means

I don't know if I can quite overcome my disgust over this one.

A 9 year old is raped and gets pregnant, and the Roman Catholic Church wants to force her to carry the fetuses to term? At NINE YEARS OLD they want her to carry a pregnancy to term?

But Marcio Miranda, a lawyer for the Archdiocese of Olinda and Recife in northeastern Brazil, said the girl should have carried the twins to term and had a cesarean section.

"It's the law of God: Do not kill. We consider this murder," Miranda said in comments reported by O Globo.


We have two egregious offenses here - one is the fact that the girl was raped by her stepfather, the second that the church would rather put her life in danger because of their objections to abortion. Talk about making a victim of someone twice.

... and it gets better:

A Roman Catholic archbishop says the abortion of twins carried by a 9-year-old girl who allegedly was raped by her stepfather means excommunication for the girl's mother and her doctors.


It really does reinforce my view that the so-called "pro life" crowd really does view the pregnant female as nothing more than a non-sentient vessel of procreation.

[Update 7/3/09]
At least Brazil's leadership is embarrassed by the Church's heavy handedness in this matter.
[/Update]

[Update 7/3/09 (#2)]
As if on cue, the Vatican weighs in, defending its bishop's actions. Can this tragedy get any more screwed up?

"It is a sad case but the real problem is that the twins conceived were two innocent persons, who had the right to live and could not be eliminated," he said.

"Life must always be protected, the attack on the Brazilian Church is unjustified."


What about the 9 year old girl's life? (Which has already been monumentally screwed up by a stepfather who doesn't deserve the title)

From wikipedia:
Risks for medical complications are greater for girls 14 years of age and younger, as an underdeveloped pelvis can lead to difficulties in childbirth. Obstructed labour is normally dealt with by Caesarean section in industrialized nations; however, in developing regions where medical services might be unavailable, it can lead to eclampsia, obstetric fistula, infant mortality, or maternal death.[4]


... and I suspect that at the ripely mature age of 9 years old, there might some other complications too.

On this one, the Church has its priorities so backwards it's not even funny.
[/Update]

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are they sure it was her step dad and not her parish priest?

MgS said...

Does it really matter, especially considering the church's silence on the fate of the rapist?

Anonymous said...

ok, I rest my case! LOL

Anonymous said...

Yes let's victimize the child in this equation. Clearly it was the child's fault. Not.

Anonymous said...

Hallelujah... maybe it was an immaculate conception... the SECOND COMING with a double wammy.

NO WONDER THE FREEKIN POPE IS SO PISSED... We've been waiting 2,000 bloody years, and the God damned doctors ruined the party.

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