Fetal Anomalies and Induced Delivery Evaluation of babies in utero to detect serious disabilities has become a common practice in prenatal care. In cases where such a disability is identified, mothers are often advised to have labor induced to end the pregnancy prematurely. They may be told that the baby’s condition creates health risks for the mother. Suggestions will be made that ending the pregnancy now is easier than carrying the baby to term since it will likely die shortly after birth. In fact, fetal disabilities rarely cause any maternal health risks. Additionally, studies have shown that allowing the child to be born supports a more natural and complete grieving process. Early termination of the pregnancy leads to the occurrence of abnormal grief. On a moral basis, early induction of labor cannot be justified unless it is intented to improve the baby’s chance of survival. In these cases, it is clear that the intention is not to enhance the possibility of survival, but rather to guarantee the child’s death. Therefore, on the levels of physical, psychological, and spiritual health, it is clearly the wrong choice to prematurely induce labor when serious fetal anomalies are discovered. The practice of induced labor abortion, also called live birth abortion, has become common in cases of serious fetal anomalies. Jill Stanek revealed the results of this practice at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, IL when she testified about the babies born alive there and left to die. Sometimes, if a nurse had time, a baby might be held until it died. (See the picture below.) This same practice takes place at other hospitals in the Chicago area and throughout the nation. In an article called “Why Carry a Dying Child?” Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life stated: “The diagnosis that an unborn child has a life-threatening disease or anomaly is a particularly heavy cross for a family to bear. The hopes and dreams that accompany a pregnancy are thrown into chaos, and the joy of the anticipation of the child’s birth becomes intense anxiety.” “Why should a baby who will die shortly be brought to term? Because we love that child for as long as that child lives, whether life be measured in decades or minutes.” “The alternative to accepting death is to try to control it by giving ourselves the authority to take life before life will make too many demands on us. Hence we have abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.” Alternatives that offer support to mothers who face this heavy cross are being developed. Dr. Byron Calhoun has established a perinatal hospice to care for newly born infants who have serious anomalies. A support group called Life Link has been formed in Wisconsin to provide moral support to mothers during at risk pregnancies. Other women who have experienced these circumstances have volunteered to provide that support. If you need more information, please call our office at 312-422-9300.
This rocking chair is used to rock babies to death -- babies who were delivered prematurely, on purpose, as a method of abortion. (from Priests for Life newspaper ad in USA Today)
|
