{"id":35372,"date":"2013-05-22T19:24:47","date_gmt":"2013-05-22T23:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=35372"},"modified":"2013-05-23T19:02:46","modified_gmt":"2013-05-23T23:02:46","slug":"can-a-mentally-ill-woman-consent-to-an-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/can-a-mentally-ill-woman-consent-to-an-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Can a mentally ill woman consent to an abortion?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

One of the ways that abortion advocates like to claim that abortion is “health care” is by claiming that it can sometimes be necessary for the health of the mother, or to save her life. Included in the “health of the mother” argument is mental health, because some women could become suicidal if not permitted to have an abortion. In such a situation, a woman should clearly be allowed to have an abortion, right?<\/p>\n

Consider the case of “SB,” a British woman with a history of severe mental health problems, who just got legal permission to have an abortion at 23 weeks pregnant because she claims she would kill herself if forced to carry the baby<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The woman, known only as “SB”, is currently staying in a secure mental health facility, but appeared in court to make a direct plea to the judge. Her identity and the name of the health authority cannot be reported.<\/p>\n

Justice Holman disagreed with the assessment of her doctors, mother and husband that SB was not capable of deciding and said it would be “a total affront” to her autonomy to say she could not.<\/p>\n

He added: “The patient perfectly understands what’s involved in a termination… she perfectly understands the finality of the event.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The background on this case? This was a planned pregnancy. SB has a history of bipolar disorder, paranoid delusions, and schizophrenia, which she had been able to manage with medication. She stopped taking it, though, when she became pregnant, and then claimed she wanted an abortion. Not only did her family and her husband say that she was not capable of understanding what she was choosing to do, but so did her doctors<\/em> – yet the judge ruled in her favor anyway. She’s also tried to kill her husband twice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Does this sound like a sane woman capable of making such a monumental decision?<\/p>\n

SB’s case aside, what about your average woman who claims to be suicidal if forced to carry her baby?<\/p>\n

The simple fact of the matter is, someone who is truly suicidal is not in a mentally fit state of mind. She is not capable of making rational decisions, and so how is it acceptable to allow her to make a decision that will forever change her life, but also rob another human being of his or hers? Someone who comes into an abortion clinic claiming to be suicidal needs psychiatric help.<\/p>\n

If SB had said she would kill herself unless her husband was shot in the head, she would have been treated for her mental illness, not given a loaded gun. If she had said she would kill herself if she couldn’t cut her arm off, she would have been given psychiatric help, not handed a hacksaw. But in the case of an abortion, we’re supposed to just give the suicidal person what she wants and then send her on their way? This is especially mind-boggling considering that abortion increases<\/em> the risks of mental health issues<\/a> like depression and suicide<\/a>!<\/p>\n

People suffering from suicidal thoughts need help, as they are clearly suffering from a mental illness. And a mentally ill person cannot consent to an abortion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not the help she needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[15],"tags":[19,1758,496,1362,1322,1578,1759,396],"yoast_head":"\nCan a mentally ill woman consent to an abortion? - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/can-a-mentally-ill-woman-consent-to-an-abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can a mentally ill woman consent to an abortion? - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Not the help she needs.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/can-a-mentally-ill-woman-consent-to-an-abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-22T23:24:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-23T23:02:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/sad.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"565\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"504\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/can-a-mentally-ill-woman-consent-to-an-abortion\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/can-a-mentally-ill-woman-consent-to-an-abortion\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\"},\"headline\":\"Can a mentally ill woman consent to an abortion?\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-22T23:24:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-23T23:02:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/can-a-mentally-ill-woman-consent-to-an-abortion\/\"},\"wordCount\":537,\"commentCount\":16,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"abortion\",\"bipolar disorder\",\"Cassy Fiano\",\"depression\",\"England\",\"mental illness\",\"schizophrenia\",\"suicide\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Analysis\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/can-a-mentally-ill-woman-consent-to-an-abortion\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/can-a-mentally-ill-woman-consent-to-an-abortion\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/can-a-mentally-ill-woman-consent-to-an-abortion\/\",\"name\":\"Can a mentally ill woman consent to an abortion? 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