Abortion Got Personal

Last week I saw two stories that broke my heart. The first on is about 6 years old, but the second one was in the news last week.

Story one was of a botched abortion. A young mother accused a Florida clinic of botching her abortion, allowing her child to be born alive - then putting the baby into a plastic bag and throwing her out with the trash. Here is the core of the story, you can read the whole story here.

 Aged 18, Ms Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy...Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated and ready for the procedure.But Dr Renelique did not arrive in time - and, according to Williams and the Florida Department of Health, she went into labour and delivered a live baby girl. Then, Ms Williams and the Department of Health claim, one of the clinic's owners - who has no medical licence - cut the infant's umbilical cord. Ms Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic bio-hazard bag and threw it out. Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips. An autopsy revealed air in the baby girl's lungs - proving that she was born alive and breathing.

The Second one was in the news last week, and was all the rage on Facebook. Here is the essence of the story. You can read the whole story here.

The parents of a four-year-old Oregon girl with Down syndrome were awarded $2.9 million after doctors misdiagnosed their daughter as not having the condition during a prenatal screening.

Ariel and Deborah Levy of Portland, Ore., filed a “wrongful birth” lawsuit against Legacy Health System, claiming that they would have terminated the pregnancy had they known they would have a special-needs child.

The Levys said the doctors were “negligent in their performance, analysis and reporting” of test results after their child was born as well.“It’s been difficult for them,” said David K. Miller, the Levy’s lawyer, “There’s been a lot of misinformation out there. “These are parents who love this little girl very, very much,” Miller said. “Their mission since the beginning was to provide for her and that’s what this is all about.

The $2.9 million will cover the estimated extra lifetime costs of caring for someone with Down syndrome.

Here's the thought that struck me with both stories. Life is cheap. We throw it in a garbage can. We dispose of it because it might have a genetic defect. We ponder after birth abortion (aka infanticide), and euthanasia, like it's no big deal

Now, you may have notice that I have talked about abortion allot lately. It got real and personal a couple months ago. I have always been pro-life. My mom volunteered at a crisis pregnancy center, and my sister in Law is the director of one right now. But it came home in a new way a few months ago when Veronique and I where told that our daughter might, might (less than one percent chance) be Down's Syndrome.

Now, come what may, we're keeping her. She's made in the image of God. She's our daughter. We stopped the inquiry, it doesn't matter. But what has broken my heart was the statement by the doctor that while 1 in every 600 pregnancies are Downs syndrome babies, 97 percent are aborted. the words from the doctors mouth have left me heartbroken. 1 in every 600, but only 3 percent of those children live. Now the stats I saw when I searched the internet where a little bit different, but they reflected the general trend she cited. When parents find out their kids are Downs syndrome babies, they abort them. They kill their child. What are we doing? How can we stand numbly by?