Abortion and godlings

The desire to favour ideology over compassion for women has surfaced in Ireland in very distressing way. A pregnant woman (Savita Halappanavar) was admitted to University Hospital Galway (UHG), where she was found to be miscarrying and soon was in severe pain. Savita died of septicaemia a week later. Why did Savita die? According to an article in The Irish Times a request for a medical termination was refused because the foetal heartbeat was still present, and “this is a Catholic country”. Perhaps the doctors (godlings?) would also claim that even after rape any pregnancy is “something that God intended to happen” (believed by some in the USA)?

A necessary medical treatment to save the life of the mother because of foetal termination. We have a case where the perceived “rights” of a foetus (who had not been born) superseded the rights of a woman (who had been born) – this unfortunate position appears throughout many conservative political ideologies. Often “abortion” is a political issue dressed in religious clothes.

Hearts of stone

Sometimes ideology overcomes humanity. Sometimes an abstract idea becomes more important than reality. Some human beings forget they exist in world populated by other human beings without whom their existence would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. Not wishing to bear one another's burdens, some humans seem devoid of any spiritual or communal feeling – espousing a morality of materialism.

They are statues with their hearts of stone.