by lil bit » Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:55 am
Some years ago, I watched a very late third trimester abortion being performed on TV. Two junior doctors volunteered to watch it being carried out. As her worked, the surgeon told them about the patient on the table.
She was a 12 year old girl who had been systematically raped by her 19 year old brother, who began creeping into her bedroom at night on his return home from prison. The girl's mother had no idea this had been happening until the girl's pregnancy was very advanced. All three had mild learning disabilities, which is probably why the pregnancy remained undetected for so long.
The foetus was too large to bring out in one piece and it would be have been too distressing for the girl to go through labour to deliver the dead foetus, so it had been decided by the girl, her mother and the obstetrician that a surgical abortion was the best thing under the circumstances, which as we all know, involves cutting up the foetus in utero and taking it out in bits.
Speaking for myself, I believe that 12 year old child had suffered enough without being forced to give birth to her brother's baby, so I fully approved of that abortion.
Some of you may not feel the same, but either way, it should have made no difference and we should not have expected to be consulted on the matter.
'She couldn't help wondering what use Carl had for a double bed in his bachelor establishment' - Rafferty's Legacy -Jane Corrie