In September 2012, Irish medical doctors came together to present cutting-edge research and diverse opinions on maternal healthcare. One of the conclusions from the Dublin Declaration on Maternal Healthcare was this – “As experienced practitioners and researchers in Obstetrics and Gynecology, we affirm that direct abortion is not medically necessary to save the life of a woman.” On October 28, 2012, Savita Halappanavar, an Indian woman living in Galway, Ireland, died of septicemia after having been denied a potentially life-saving abortion for three excruciatingly agonizing days at the University Hospital in Galway.

On October 21, when Savita, who was 17-weeks pregnant, was admitted to the hospital, she was in agony. She had suffered a miscarriage and accepted that she was going to lose her precious baby – a baby that her family back home had yearned for. But fighting through her pain and her grief, Savita requested for an induced abortion, which was refused outright.

“This is a Catholic country. As long as there is a fetal heartbeat, we can’t do anything,” the Irish doctors told her and her husband, Praveen Halappanavar. For three days, Praveen was caught in a desperately futile struggle to convince the doctors to proceed with terminating the pregnancy, as his wife’s health deteriorated with every passing minute. “I am neither Irish nor Catholic,” was Savita’s last plea. The fetus died two days later and a couple of days later, Savita’s heart, liver, and kidneys stopped working. She died because of blood poisoning that may have been reversed had she been allowed to undergo the abortion. Savita’s death sparked global debate over legalizing abortion in Ireland and outrage among thousands of men and women across the world.

Despite a 1992 ruling by the Supreme Court that permitted abortion in the case of a “real and substantive risk” to the mother’s life, Irish governments since then have been reluctant to legalize abortion in a country where 80% of the population is Catholic. Even though the European Court of Human Rights had ruled that the inadequate access to abortions in Ireland – resulting in most Irish women seeking medical termination of their pregnancies, travelling to Britain – for life-threatening pregnancies violated the European Union Law, there is still a lack of legislative detail in Irish law, making abortions a controversial issue. Medical practitioners are unclear on the guidelines and therefore refuse to carry out medical termination.

Carrying out an abortion, however, is not an easy choice even for the mother. Savita Halappanavar wanted to keep her baby but she knew that her body would not permit her to. Savita, like most women, faced the dilemma of her baby’s life and her own conscience. In her case, she had made the right decision by choosing to end her pregnancy.

But Nima Purohit, a lawyer in India, probably still wonders whether she made the right decision. 19-weeks into her pregnancy and Nima’s doctors informed her that her little one had Dandy-Walker Syndrome, a congenital disease that would have serious implications. Since 20-week limit for an abortion was fast approaching, Nima underwent an amniocentesis test, but had her pregnancy terminated. After the abortion, she was still waiting for the amniocentesis test results hoping that she had made the right decision.

Nima made a choice between her child’s quality of life and her own conscience as a mother. One cannot say that she made a wrong decision. Abortions are legal in India, a religious and secular country. Yet, the choice for an abortion is in the hands of a woman. Legalizing abortions can put an end to unsafe abortions but many Indians are still unaware of the risks involved in unsafe abortions. Anti-abortion groups are calling for liberalization of the abortion laws in Ireland. Losing one life, that of the fetus, is better than losing two lives.

The choice of life and conscience may remain a debatable topic; however, religion cannot triumph over a woman’s right to live. Religion will not be able to explain to a child why he lives each day with a genetic abnormality or mental retardation. In some situations, abortions are a desperate need for survival. Law makers and governments have to accept this hard truth. Savita lost out on her abortion rights. She lost a painful battle to religious fanaticism. But, for the other Savitas in the world, radical change and constitutional reform is needed.

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A recent study published in Nature Methods reports that the Northern White Rhinoceros and the Drill have become the first endangered animals to have their cells transformed into stem cells. Combining conservation and modern cell biology, scientists have opened a new door for the preservation of endangered species, potentially providing a method of ensuring their survival.

Stem cells are unique cells found in all multicellular organisms that have the capability to develop into different kinds all specialized cells, ranging from blood, nerve or muscle cells. They are also able to divide infinitely to self-renew, continuing to produce more stem cells.

The northern white rhinoceros and the drill, an African short-tailed forest baboon, have become the first two endangered species to have their cells transformed into stem cells. In order to save fertilized embryos of both species, they were instead made by “re-programming” frozen skin cells of each animal.

Through this process the cells were brought back to earlier stages of development from which various forms of specialized cells could be induced. There are various uses of this research that is debated among scientists. Dr. Jeanne Loring, a world-renowned stem cell research who heads the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in California, is one of the researchers of the study.

She believes that creating new embryos through this process is even better than the method of cloning endangered species. According to Dr. Loring, “Cloning has not worked well for endangered species – the frequency of success is very low…here, you have the possibility to make new genetic combinations rather than cloning which simply reproduces existing animals.”

By inducing stem cells to make gametes, or eggs and sperm, test-tube babies of endangered species would become possible. Embryos created this way could potentially be raised by surrogate mothers from closely related species. Dr. Loring reports that though making gametes from stem cells is not yet routine, there are reports of it being down with laboratory animals already.

Other scientists are skeptical about this approach and believe that there needs to be more research, conservation and assistance of endangered species before turning to measures of stem cells. William Holt, a reproductive biologist at the Zoological Society of London, is involved in a collaboration called ‘Frozen Ark’, a project that collects DNA and cells from endangered animals.

He has said that scientists do not know enough about the reproductive biology of animals which is essential to support assisted reproduction programs. “With so few individuals remaining, there is little opportunity to learn more.”

Initially the applications of this research could be strictly medicinal as well. An animal suffering with some form of degenerative disease could benefit from stem cells to create replacements for the cells that have stopped working. This method has continued to be investigated for human use as well.

However, time may be running out for many endangered species that are declining in numbers due to hunting and habitat loss. The northern white rhinoceros, which the research was based on, may only have seven individuals living in captivity left in existence.

While Dr. Loring agrees that much work must still be done before stem cells can be used to save these species, she supports the research and asserts that even if the methods have yet to be perfected, stem cells offer a way of preserving genetic diversity of individual animals. Dr. Loring’s research team plans to replicate their work with the northern white rhinoceros with ten other endangered animals.

Sources:

http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/43205

http://blog.arkive.org/2011/09/could-stem-cells-save-endangered-species/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cells

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14765186

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