Women's Views on News |
| Savita Halappanavar inquest verdict out Posted: 24 Apr 2013 07:58 AM PDT
The jury in the inquest into the death of Savita Halappanavar, who died in University Hospital Galway in Ireland on 28 October 2012 four days after suffering a miscarriage, has given a verdict of 'medical misadventure'. The legal definition of medical misadventure indicates personal injury resulting from medical error or medical mishap, or an unintended outcome of an intended action. The inquest heard the cause of her death was septic shock, E coli and a miscarriage. Media from around the world has been gathering in Galway as people struggled to understand how the 31 year-old dentist, an otherwise healthy, pregnant young woman, could be admitted to hospital with little prospect of her child’s survival, and yet be refused a termination. And Ms Halappanavar’s death, a week after her admission to the University Hospital in Galway, has once again focused international attention on the Republic of Ireland’s abortion laws. Irish law prevents an abortion unless there is a risk to the life, as distinct from the health, of the mother. This has been the case since a Supreme Court ruling in 1992, known as the X case: abortion has been constitutionally available in the Republic where a woman’s life, as distinct from her health, is at risk from the continued pregnancy. Dr Peter Boylan, the former master of the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin, told the inquest that Ms Halappanavar would probably still be alive today if she had had a termination in the first three days of her stay in the hospital, but that under Irish law an abortion would have been illegal because there was “not a real and substantial risk to her life at that stage”. And by the time her life was at risk, it was too late to save her with a termination. A report by the Health Service Executive has concluded, according to the Irish Times, that there was "an overemphasis by hospital staff on the welfare of Ms Halappanavar's unviable foetus and an underemphasis on her deteriorating health." The chief operating officer at the Galway Roscommon Hospital Group, Tony Canavan, acknowledged there were lapses in the standards of care provided to Ms Halappanavar. The inquest heard of communication failures between medical and nursing staff; evidence was also given of blood test results not being followed up and of pulse rates not taken. Canavan said that all of the nine recommendations made by the coroner Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin and endorsed by the inquest jury would be taken on board. Ireland's current Fine Gael-Labour coalition government has promised a new law on abortion in the country, and to provide greater guidance for doctors by the summer. The problem is that what constitutes a "life-threatening" condition in various medical situations, including failing pregnancies, and how much time exists for medical professionals to intervene, is very often not clear-cut. Until now, the Irish government has apparently given no guidance to hospitals as to how to proceed in such cases and doctors are fearful of prosecution. Marianne Mollman of Amnesty International wrote of her own investigation of this problem: ‘In 2010 I saw that the European Court on Human Rights berated the Irish government for not regulating access to life-saving abortion clearly, creating insecurity for medical providers and patients alike. ‘In 2011 the United Nations Human Rights Council issued various recommendations to the same effect…My research taught me that many medical providers in Ireland want clarity on when they can intervene and when they cannot.’ Ireland's coalition government is expected to publish within the next fortnight the general principles that it hopes will become law by July. Any legislation is expected to be very restrictive by international standards. Victims of rape, sexual abuse and incest will almost certainly not be entitled to a termination unless their life is at risk. Opponents have also expressed unease about the proposal to legislate for 'the credible threat of suicide' as grounds for termination of a pregnancy. These could mean Irish women will be unable to make personal health decisions. The consequences of such an approach, as has been illustrated here, are grave. And according to a World Health Organization report, about 47,000 women die each year around the world from unsafe abortions. This accounts for about 13 per cent of all maternal deaths. Gerard O’Donnell, solicitor for Ms Halappanavar’s widower Praveen Halappanavar, said the evidence demonstrated a serious and shocking mismanagement of the case at Galway University Hospital and that Ms Halappanavar was denied her constitutional right to life and was the victim of a significant breach of human rights. Minister for Health James Reilly said that “as the verdict had just been issued…to garner the lessons to be learned from it, it would not be appropriate…to take questions on it right now.” The Galway coroner’s inquest is the first of a series of probes into this case and findings will be announced in the coming weeks and months.  |
| New Player of the Year shortlist out Posted: 24 Apr 2013 05:00 AM PDT
Nominees for the award, which is being held for the first time this year, include Gemma Davison, the 26 year-old Arsenal striker who picked up her only England cap in 2009. Also on the list are her fellow Arsenal players, midfielders Kim Little and Jordan Nobbs. Little, 22, has also made 81 appearances for Scotland, while 20 year-old Nobbs currently has four caps for England. Arsenal Ladies are one of the most successful teams in the country. They progressed further than any other British team to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, falling to German side Wolfsburg on 21 April. According to reports, Everton’s Toni Duggan, Seattle Reign’s former Bristol Academy star Jessica Fishlock and Birmingham’s Jodie Taylor complete the shortlist. The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) chief executive Gordon Taylor said it was appropriate that the organisation has decided to recognise the rapid development of the women’s game, especially at the 40th anniversary of the union’s awards ceremony. “We can’t ignore what has been a real success story, internationally and domestically,” he said. “We have the Women’s Super League, we have seen the England women’s team do well and qualify for tournaments. We saw Team GB against Brazil at the Olympics, which filled Wembley. “More and more young girls are taking part and that is something we should be proud of. “Everybody knows Arsenal have been successful but I hope other teams will give the same prominence to their women’s team to be able to challenge them effectively. “The women’s game needs some commercial backing but seeing as women make up 50 per cent of the population, it is something we should be mindful of.” Following a magnificent triumph for England at the recent Cyprus Cup and the forthcoming appearance of Hope Powell’s team at Euro 2013, Taylor felt the women’s sports team deserved to be recognised by the PFA and that there was no better time to begin that recognition than now. Here is the full shortlist: Gemma Davison (Arsenal and England), age 26; Toni Duggan (Everton and England), age 21; Jessica Fishlock (Seattle Reign and Wales), age 26; Kim Little (Arsenal and Scotland), age 22; Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal and England), age 20; and Jodie Taylor (Birmingham, on loan at Gothenburg), age 26. The winner will be named on 28 April.  |
| Posted: 24 Apr 2013 01:09 AM PDT
New Avengers comic book series T-shirts tell girls that they ‘need’ a hero, while boys are told to ‘be’ a hero. And the USA's Space Camp programme, whose stated goal is ‘to promote the study of math, science, and technology,’ is selling T-shirts telling girls to ‘dream’ and boys to ‘achieve.’ Given the continued dearth of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math jobs worldwide, the Space Camp's choice of wording is particularly unfortunate. Such explicit promotion of assumed gender differences, particularly that of active boys and passive girls, greatly damages the work being done to achieve equality in society. Girls are no less active than boys, nor are boys any less likely to dream than girls. Yet without widespread alternative messages and role models, young children face even more difficulty in navigating a route to adulthood that celebrates who they are as individuals and that does not penalise them for not fitting into constrained categories of behaviours and expectations. Each generation is growing up with new ways to access mass media, making the need for a counterweight of diverse, positive messages increasingly desperate. What can be done to stop this insidious growth of sexism that is now affecting even the earliest ages of childhood? The UK's Pink Stinks campaign is working to stop ‘the 'pinkification' of girlhood,’ saying that ‘by recognising and celebrating the fact that there’s more than one way to be a girl, the benefits for all children and wider society will be boundless.’ The Let Toys Be Toys campaign group is petitioning children's retailer the Entertainer to remove its gendered pink and blue labelling and division of toys. One of the campaigners, Tricia Lowther, speaking to Women's Views on News, said: "What's wrong with a 'Science and Construction' heading instead?" In the world of comics and superheroes, Team Girl Comics, the Prismatic Art Collection, the Hawkeye Initiative and GeekGirlCon are some of the projects and organisations working to present powerful alternatives to the prevailing sexist stereotypes. With products that promote damaging stereotypes still regularly making it to market, continued vigilance is needed to try to stop the spread of such harm.  |
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