The Doctor Said "Oops"

Here is the situation. A woman becomes pregnant. Ultrasound scans revealed that the baby had a malformed esophagus, a very difficult abnormality but one that can sometimes be repaired after birth. The woman decided to have an abortion at 22 weeks.

The aborted baby's heart was still beating when it came out. In a remarkable turnaround, the physician instantly changed roles from executioner to healer and began trying to save the baby's life. Sadly, a brain hemorrhage caused by the aborted abortion makes this child's survival very unlikely.

Even more sadly, the now-delivered baby was found not to have the defect that led the mother to have an abortion in the first place. The ultrasound reading was interpreted incorrectly.

All this really happened in Florence, Italy last month. Let us pray the Lord takes this child into His arms, and that the mother somehow finds peace.

Ultrasound is a wonderful technology but far from foolproof. You know how it goes: you get the little picture of a bunch of blobs, and the doctor points to some dots and says "those are fingers." Because it is a doctor saying this, we believe it. That belief cost this child his life.

Prenatal testing is now being used eugenically to create "designer" babies of the desired gender and health condition. Those babies who are deemed less than desirable are simply destroyed. This is alarmingly common in the United States when amniocentesis indicates Down's Syndrome in the child.

Raising a child with a disability is a huge sacrifice. Yet many parents gladly do so, and there are even lists of people who are willing to adopt such children. There is no need to destroy them. They should be honored.

Even more disturbing: where does this logic end? If it makes sense to kill people with defects before they are born, why not do it after they are born? We could save all kinds of time and money for society by just rounding up all the people with Down's Syndrome and euthanizing them. Why don't we?

Someday, this will happen. Here in America, it will happen, and instead of being horrified we will accept it. Even now we are being slowly prepared with new definitions of "life." Guess what: eventually, the new definition will hit close to home. By then it will be too late.

Does this thought horrify you? Good. Start doing something about it.