Posted by
jar-el on Monday, June 16, 2008 11:19:25 AM
This post is in response to an article that I read concerning the attempted abortion of the weaker of two twins in utero, because of a heart enlargement. After reading some comments posted there, I wanted to relate my personal experiences in that realm.
My first son was diagnosed with Type I (severe) SMA at 3 months. This is a rapidly progressive disease of the motor neurons and without severe medical intervention, it results in the death of a baby in the first year of life. An important note is that a fetus can be tested for it at 11 weeks through corianic villi sampling. We did not do this test and did not know my son would be affected.
After another 5-1/2 months of continual care (G-button feeding, constant throat suctioning, CPT treatment, etc...)from my wife and I, and a succession of nurses who couldn't "deal" with the situation, Hospice visits and finally on through morphine treatment for CO2 headache and on and on, my precious son died in our arms at home at 8-1/2 months of age. He was loved, cared for and protected all his short life, and for all the gallons of tears that I cried during that time and all the desparation in looking for a cure, he blessed our lives in many ways. However, it was a very, very hard situation, especially knowing the eventual outcome. I, and my wife especially, were crushed and exhausted, and our marriage was strained.
Living through something like this gives you a new perspective on abortion and the reasons people might abort a baby. Parents, hopefully, make the best decision they can based on the facts as they know them. These are some things my experience has taught me:
1) I think that sometimes facts are skewed by the medical industry trying to "cover its own a$$". If I was told that I should "abort to save the other twin", I would be skeptical to say the least, and would definitely get second and third opinions.
2) There are many, many times when abortion should be considered unnecessary, unwarranted and downright barbaric. In these cases mothers, society, we as humans should choose life. There is no hope, and no future for mankind in the snuffing out of human potential. It, above all else, should be nurtured.
3) Neither my wife nor I would re-write the book on our experience. However, if there ever came another pregnancy like our first, and knowing the eventual outcome, we would probably abort the pregnancy, having been "through the fire", so to speak. Having no cure and no reasonable hope except that the soul of my precious son would be trapped in an inanimate body and on a ventilator for his entire life, - his eyes unable to move or focus, his lungs burning from the forced air, his feet, hands and musculature distorted and atrophied, I would choose to abort. The burdens on the parents and on the child are too severe.
All this is why I feel such revulsion when women abort perfectly healthy babies. I am reminded of the New York woman I read about recently who aborted two of her triplets because it would be too much of an inconvenience to birth and raise all three. Imagine having to detail to your child how you scheduled the death of his or her siblings between work and vacation days.