El Salvador Case is a Reminder that Abortion Restrictions Threaten Lives

Today, reproductive rights advocates in D.C. will hold a vigil in support of safe, legal, and affordable abortion care for all women, no matter where they live. This vigil comes after the Salvadorian Supreme Court denied a critically ill woman, known only as Beatriz, a therapeutic abortion. Beatriz was pregnant with a nonviable, anencephalic fetus. Due to complications related to lupus, cardiovascular disease and kidney functioning, the pregnancy threatened Beatriz’s life. The Supreme Court waited seven weeks while Beatriz’s health deteriorated before issuing its ruling. Last Monday, the Health Ministry allowed Beatriz to undergo a cesarean section. Beatriz is currently recovering; but, as expected, the fetus, which was missing part of its brain and skull, did not survive.

Think this can’t happen here? Think again. If anti-abortion activists get their way, abortion could be banned in all circumstances. Already, women seeking care at Catholic affiliated hospitals may be denied medically appropriate treatment. One study found that doctors practicing at Catholic-affiliated hospitals, which are required to adhere to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, were forced to delay treatment for miscarriages while performing medically unnecessary tests. Even though these miscarriages were inevitable and nothing could save the fetus, some patients were transferred because doctors could still detect a fetal heartbeat or required to wait until there was no longer a fetal heartbeat to provide the needed medical care. A Seattle woman, who was suffering a miscarriage, was denied an abortion because the fetus still had a heartbeat even though nothing could be done to save the pregnancy. She was told she could wait for the heartbeat to stop or she could unhook herself and go to another hospital. "It was a nightmare," she said of her experience "It still is."

If it had passed, the misnamed “Protect Life Act” introduced in 2011 would have allowed hospitals to deny women emergency abortion care even when an abortion would be necessary to protect the woman’s life. Hospitals could have even refused to transfer women to another hospital to receive care. Medical providers and politicians shouldn’t be allowed to deny women medically necessary care. What happened in El Salvador should serve as reminder of what is at stake and how far abortion opponents are willing to go.