A foetus

There is a story in the papers today about a woman who was diagnosed with cancer when she was four months pregnant. She delayed treatment until the foetus could survive and died as a result. What a heartbreaking decision to have to make and no one would want to be in her shoes. Now her husband is bringing up 3 children without a mother.

This may be a little controversial. But what bothers me is the way that she is described as "selfless" and "courageous" because she put her baby's life before her own. It just perpetuates the anti-abortionist idea that a foetus is worth more than the mother. It reminds me of the Jehovah's witness who gave birth to twins and died because she refused a blood transfusion. Since when did a woman sacrificing her life become something to be admired? A pregnant woman has the weight of societal angst on her shoulders and is expected not to drink and smoke and to eat perfectly for the whole nine months. If a photographer catches a celeb mum having a sneaky fag then she is cast in the role of devil woman. The pregnant woman is expected to come second to the baby in every single way and this sad, sad case is just another example.

In the end it was her decision to make and one can only imagine the agony she went through making that choice. But don't moralise and say she did the right thing as if she made the correct and morally acceptable choice. Why is the unborn life worth more than her already alive children and her own?