[Mrs. Don-o]

I don't intend to draw you into a discussion in which you already said you'd decline to paticipate, but if anybody else islurking and reading, I'll say this:

I know of no case of classic life-of-the-mother situations (cancer of the uterus or cervix, ectopic prgnancy, pregnant woman hemorrhaging because of traums ---e.g. car accident--- where it was ever morally or legally considered an "abortion" if therapeutic measures were taken to save the mother's life --- even if it was clearly understood that the unborn baby would die.

"Therapeutic measures" could include surgery, drugs, chemo, radiation, hysterectomy, very premature delivery with no practical expectation of the baby's viability.

I say this because even in places and at times when the law in theory prohibited abortion, such laws have never prohibited or penalized actual lifesaving intervention to prevent the mother's death.

If anyone knows of any such procedure was ruled out because of the "absolute" laws in any state at any time in U.S. history, let me know. I don't know of any. I think that legally, it's a non-issue.

[presidio9]

Also, short of “the little guy’s got a knife in there,” or some sort of major trauma like a car accident, or a fall down the stairs at the Tara Plantation, I am confunded by the idea that an early term pregnancy MUST END RIGHT THIS MINUTE, without discussion, or mom’s a gonner. Medical science has progressed to the point that human beings can be kept alive indefinitely without functioning hearts, kidneys, livers, lungs, even brains.