Abortion ban 'exceptions' cannot protect life
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Antiabortion lawmakers argue that the “exceptions” written into many of these laws — most commonly permitting abortion to save the life of the pregnant person or to prevent a severe health risk — will keep women safe. In reality, these exceptions fail to ensure access to necessary medical care and the policies will ultimately increase pregnancy complications, illness and death.
Since its strict ban took effect in 1998, El Salvador has headlined global news for criminalizing all abortions without exception. As a result, when a pregnancy threatens a woman or girl’s health, physicians in Salvadoran public hospitals are instructed to “save both lives” — the mother's and the fetus'.
Tragic attempts to preserve both lives under El Salvador’s abortion ban give a glimpse into what the U.S. can now expect. By overturning Roe, the Supreme Court opened the door for states to investigate and prosecute doctors who interrupt pregnancies, even in situations where abortion is the only available treatment for their patient. This creates a legal landscape that incentivizes healthcare providers to delay or withhold needed medical care, in a way that exception carve-outs cannot prevent.
Salvadoran doctors I interviewed offered numerous examples of how it plays out when perceived fetal viability is prioritized over the mother’s health. There was one woman who, in the 20th week of her third pregnancy, developed a pregnancy-related heart condition. From the moment she arrived at the hospital, doctors feared that the young mother was on a path to full cardiac arrest. But they could not say whether cardiac arrest was imminent, showing how challenging it is to prove that the pregnant person’s life is in immediate danger.
Read More: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/op-ed-abortion-ban-exceptions-cannot-protect-life/ar-AAZdk9Y?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=da06f8a08d69440e8f316a57f745bb20
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