At the Semma Hospital in
the captial city of Santo Domingo, a 16-year-old girl is dying of acute
leukemia. Doctors say the girl, whose name is being withheld to protect
her privacy, needs an aggressive chemotherapy treatment. But there's one
problem: the teenager is nine weeks pregnant and treatment would very
likely terminate the pregnancy, a violation of Dominican anti-abortion
laws.
Rosa Hernandez, the
girl's mother, is trying to convince doctors and the Dominican
government to make an exception so that her daughter's life can 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.
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, also abolished the death penalty.
Miguel Montalvo, the
director of the bioethics council that rules on the application of the
law, says the council is leaning toward allowing the treatment. "At the
end of the day the patient may decide for himself or herself. In this
case, the family may decide what's more convenient for the patient,"
Montalvo said.
Women's and human rights groups are outraged, saying the girl should have received chemotherapy immediately.
Lilliam Fondeur, a
women's rights activist, complains that conservative politics is
preventing necessary treatment to save the teenager's life.
"How can it be possible
that so much time is being wasted? That the treatment hasn't begun yet
because they're still meeting, trying to decide if she has the right to
receive the treatment to save her life -- that's unacceptable," Fondeur
said.
Some Dominican
opposition lawmakers say there should be a new debate over the abortion
ban in the Caribbean country and the problems created by the
constitutional ban go beyond this case. Opinion leaders like former
representative Victor Terrero say clandestine abortions are also putting
the lives of many women at risk.
"The constitution is
going to have to be modified sooner rather than later," Terrero said.
"We cannot allow under any circumstances that pregnancies that present
complications for women be permitted to continue as normal."
Bautista Rojas Gomez,
the Dominican minister of health, has publicly indicated he favors
chemotherapy over protecting the pregnancy, but doctors are still
reluctant to act for fear of prosecution.
Pelegrin Castillo, one
of the architects of Article 37, says the constitutional ban does not
prevent doctors from administering the treatment. It does, however,
prevent them from practicing an abortion in order to treat the patient
with chemotherapy.
"It's an artificial
debate," Castillo said. "What we have clearly said is that in this case
doctors are authorized by the constitution to treat the patient. They
don't have to worry about anything. They have the mandate of protecting
both lives."
And while the debate
rages on around the country, back at the hospital the clock keeps
ticking for the 16-year-old pregnant girl.
No comments:
Post a Comment