"Health"

[jmatonak]

Did that reptile Senator McCain really make sarcasm quotes while he talked about the health of a pregnant woman, or did I just imagine that?

I want to go off on a tirade using language like "she's not just a fucking incubator", but I will instead say this.

It is better to save one person than lose two people. It is my understanding that emergency personnel like firefighters are trained to make the conservative, risk-averse choice in situations like this- if two people are dying, and you can save one, but not both, you save one. And, I would imagine, you live with the consequences of that for the rest of your life. (If I am mistaken about this aspect of emergency response training, I welcome correction.)

Even after putting aside the question of "personhood" as it applies to the unborn, that's what we're left with. To behave as though this agonizing moral choice is some sort of cheap tactic- to use smarmy sarcasm quotes and eye-rolls about the "health" of the mother- is inhuman.

The person on the ground makes the call. Sometimes, you save the mother and let the baby go, because that's the best that you can do. Anyone who can sit there and make that kind of smarmy little joke is, at best, morally blind.

Comments

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

Gah.

Mostly I'm glad I watch these things as if they were on the radio - with my hands and eyes busy doing something else. But occasionally I miss some important gestures. And I was just watching a special about body language too. I wish this debate had come in time to be included in that, because I'd love to hear what the body language analysts would say about the bit you're describing.

[jmatonak.livejournal.com]

I usually keep hands and eyes busy too. I heard sarcasm in McCain's voice on the word "health", rewound because it shocked me, looked up, and watched. And was revolted, as you can probably tell from my post. So you may have been better off.

[jmatonak.livejournal.com]

Well, they do, just like anti-abortion people who don't like the "health" exception are looking for an excuse to murder pregnant women.

Jesus.

[jmatonak.livejournal.com]

Oh... I wasn't trying to be snarky at your expense. I was being snarky at someone else's. :) I hope that was clear. In my defense, the target of my snark isn't stuck on the horns of an intolerable dilemma. Just ask him.

)