THE DEAD ARE GIVEN MORE BODILY AUTONOMY AND RESPECT THAN A BIRTHING PERSON.
Yep, you didn’t misread – a dead person has more autonomy over what happens to their body than that of a LIVE birthing person. Does this statement shock you? Because it should.
A recent article posted by ‘The Guardian’ details a judge’s ruling to override the need for maternal consent to perform a caesarean section.
The woman in question gave her clinicians her informed refusal for the procedure, in the event they deemed it necessary.
The reason they used to rule against her was her history of mental health problems. That should she become agitated in labour, her clinicians could perform the procedure against her will, in the interest of the child.
Now you may be thinking to yourself that it’s selfish for her to refuse. That she should be thinking of the safety of the baby etc.
And I can see to some degree where you are coming from – but at the end of the day it’s HER body. Not yours. Not the baby’s. Not the doctor’s. Not the judge’s! It’s her body and her right to choose to accept or refuse treatment – regardless of the reason!
Pregnant women aren’t the only people that choose to decline the recommendations of clinicians. People of the Jehovah’s Witness faith often choose to decline blood products – even when it’s deemed a life saving measure.
Even people who have died have the ultimate right to choose what happens to their organs – even if those organs could save another life. THEY get to decide and THEIR DECISIONS ARE RESPECTED!
So why is the well-being of the unborn baby more important than the life of the pregnant person? Because no matter how many advances are made in healthcare to make caesareans safer, they STILL come with risks!
What pisses me off more than anything though is that the judge who made this ruling is a MAN! Someone who doesn’t even have a f*cking uterus!
In the words of @lifeandlens_photography “The patriarchy is alive and well.”
Roxanne X