The mother
of a pregnant leukemia patient who died after her chemotherapy
was delayed over anti- abortion laws is accusing doctors of not putting
her daughter's health first.
The 16-year-old's plight attracted worldwide attention after
she had to wait for chemotherapy because of an abortion ban in the Dominican
Republic.
Doctors were hesitant to give her chemotherapy because such treatment could terminate the pregnancy -- a violation of the Dominican
Constitution, which bans abortion. Some 20 days after she was admitted to the
hospital, she finally started receiving treatment.
3 weeks ago, doctors at SEMMA started evaluating the teen for
chemotherapy last week, pending an official decision on whether they could
proceed with the treatment. Dilemma was pressing on doctors due to the
country’s strict anti-abortion law.
According to Article 37 of the Dominican Constitution,
"the right to life is inviolable from the moment of conception and until
death." Dominican courts have interpreted this as a strict mandate against
abortion. Article 37, passed in 2009, and also abolished the death penalty.
Did that take into account if the pregnancy is a threat to
the mother’s mental and physical well-being?
At
the time the treatment started, Rosa Hernandez, the girl's mother, said she
tried to convince doctors and the Dominican government to make an exception so
that her daughter's life could be saved.
"My daughter's life is first. I know that
(abortion) is a sin and that it goes against the law ... but my daughter's
health is first," Hernandez said.
"They have killed me, I'm dead, dead. I'm
nothing," her mother said. " She was the reason for my existence. I
no longer live. Rosa has died. Let the world know that Rosa is dead."
The patient was 13 weeks pregnant.
Her body rejected a blood transfusion and did not
respond to the chemotherapy, and her condition worsened overnight, Cabrera
said.
She then suffered a miscarriage early Friday,
followed by cardiac arrest, and doctors were unable to revive her.
Representatives from the Dominican Ministry of
Health, the Dominican Medical College, the hospital and the girl's family had
talked for several days before deciding to go forward with the chemotherapy.
The case sparked renewed debate over abortion in
the Dominican Republic, with some lawmakers calling on officials to reconsider
the abortion ban.
Unwanted
pregnancies will continue to happen on
an hourly basis--no matter what the law is or is not--this will make women
(often times already mothers) go to extraordinary lengths to induce an abortion
and put her own life at risk. This means that these mothers can no longer help
provide, nor raise their existing children.
Source: CNN
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