Citing Abortion Laws, Nicaragua Denies a Cancer Patient Treatment

by Te-Ping Chen · 2010-02-23 14:51:00 UTC
Topics:

"Nicaragua Anti-Abortion Law Becomes a Cancer Patient's Death Sentence." So headlines Sarah Menkedick over on our women's rights blog. I know, it's a confusing statement -- I had to read it twice, myself -- but follow me for a moment. This story is even crazier than you might expect.

Right now, in Nicaragua, there's a woman who we'll call Amalia (name changed to protect her identity). Amalia has been diagnosed with a bad case of metastatic cancer, and doctors say she requires aggressive chemotherapy and radiation to stay alive.

There's one problem, though: Amalia is also pregnant. And thanks to Nicaragua's draconian anti-abortion laws, which threaten serious prison sentences to anyone who harms a fetus -- under any circumstances -- doctors appear perfectly willing to let Amalia die, rather than run the risk of inadvertently hurting the fetus and being sent to jail. So even though the cancer has apparently moved to her brain, lung and breasts, the state-run hospital she's in has continued to refuse her treatment.

Nicaragua adopted its blanket abortion ban back in 2006, prohibiting abortion even in cases of rape or when a woman's life is at risk. (Once avowed champions of feminist rights, the ruling Sandinistas embraced the law in a bout of election-year opportunism aimed at appealing to the Catholic church.) Since the law was enacted, Amnesty International reports that the number of pregnancy-related deaths has risen.

Amalia's sister is pleading her case to the Nicaraguan Supreme Court, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. But so far she hasn't had much luck.

"The majority of Nicaraguan citizens believe that the right to life is important," says Ana Isabel Morales, Nicaragua's Minister of State. (Evidently, though, a mother's right to life doesn't make the cut.)

Decades ago, revolutionary Sandinista posters depicted a series of female guerrillas, who beamed while simultaneously nursing an infant and hoisting a rifle. Today, though, the emotion reflected wouldn't be a smile, and the vision would suddenly start to look whole a lot more menacing.

You can send a message telling the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to take action and pressure the Nicaraguan government on Amalia's case and others, below:

Photo Credit: shoothead

Te-Ping Chen Te-Ping Chen is a freelance writer and U.S. Truman Scholar whose writing has appeared in the Nation Magazine, the South China Morning Post magazine, Le Soir, and Slate.com.
PREVIOUS STORY:
The Changing Ethics of Accidental Killing in Military Operations
NEXT STORY:
Campaign about Apple Factories in China Gains Wide and Diverse Support

COMMENTS (1)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.