Repealing the 8th

Here’s a story. Or a snippet of one of the many stories that interweave on my journey towards having a family. Myself — and many of the women who I love — have countless such snippets of stories. The subplot in my story? I could have been another Savita. The Protection of Life during Pregnancy Act was passed after Savita died. Before, there was confusion and uncertainty. I have first-hand experience of that. Doctors carelessly managed my longed-for pregnancy. Their actions caused my daughter’s death and could — potentially — have caused mine. It’s hard to describe the emotional torment that I experienced as I waited — membranes ruptured, amniotic fluid ebbing away — for what I now know was an inevitable outcome to my 22-week pregnancy. During that wait, I was fed half-truths, platitudes and homilies. I was told that miracles can happen. I don’t know what choice I would have made had I been given the facts: - Our daughter had no chance of survival. - As a now unviable pregnancy continued, my life was at risk. I believe that I should have been given the facts, though. I believe that I should have been given a choice. A miracle did happen, of sorts. I survived. Our daughter didn’t. She couldn’t. And the pain of that doesn’t lessen with the passage of time. But I’m here. I’m here! And our eldest daughter can pick flowers for her mother and not a memory. And our youngest daughter became a possibility and then a reality. And if I could, I’d be voting “yes” for all my daughters.