I’ve been on this site long enough that other old timers know that I used to be very “pro-life” (anti-abortion). Even then I always thought there should be exceptions for rape/incest and “the life of the mother.”

However the death of Savita Haluppanavar made me realize that these “exceptions” don’t work when the life of the mother is actually at stake. In cases of preeclampsia and other life-threatening conditions, time is of the essence and there is no time for doctors to apply for an exception, which can take weeks to obtain, when the mother’s life can end in hours.

It also made me realize that those who call themselves “pro life” don’t really give a flying fuck about “the life of the mother” or even “the life of the fetus” but it’s just a means of controlling women’s sexual activity, particularly now that they have shown they are opposed to all forms of birth control as well as abortion.