Posted on 05/09/2023 9:12:17 AM PDT by Morgana
A heartbreaking story highlighted by ABC News attempts to justify the abortion of a baby girl from Alabama just because she had Down syndrome.
The baby girl’s mother, Kelly Shannon, traveled to Richmond, Virginia for the abortion because the laws in her home state protected her unborn daughter, according to the report.
“This has been the single most painful and traumatic experience of my life and our lives,” Shannon told the news outlet. “And anybody who wants to stand up and say that abortions are wrong or that people shouldn’t be able to make their own decisions about abortion care just need to recognize that it’s not a black and white issue. It is complicated, and I wouldn’t wish this on anybody.”
Caring for a child with special needs is challenging, but a child is no less worthy of life because of her disabilities. The Shannons’ daughter was a unique and valuable human being who deserved to live. All too often, however, doctors and modern society stoke fears and put pressure on parents to abort unborn babies with special needs, and many parents cave to the pressure.
Shannon said she and her husband were happy to learn they were expecting a second child late last year. However, near Christmas, she said doctors told them their unborn daughter likely had Down syndrome.
“I spent the next few weeks trying not to get too attached, but it’s hard not to love a baby you have prayed for,” Shannon told ABC News.
After more tests, the family learned that their unborn daughter had other health problems, including a tumor on her stomach and a heart defect, which is common in people with Down syndrome. Initially, doctors also thought she was suffering from excessive fluid and swelling on her brain, but later testing confirmed that she was not, according to the report.
The family asked for an exception to the Alabama abortion ban, but their local hospital denied it because Kelly’s life was not at risk and her unborn daughter did not have a terminal illness, according to the report. Alabama law protects unborn babies by banning abortions except in rare cases where the mother’s life is at risk.
“The committee felt that since each condition was by itself potentially survivable — not that they would lead to any kind of quality of life, just that they could potentially lead to life — that under Alabama law they did not think that my case met the criteria for termination,” she told ABC News.
To the Shannons, however, the news was devastating. They did not want their baby girl to survive because she would need “multiple corrective surgeries immediately after birth” and live with a life-long disability.
So instead, they scheduled an abortion in Richmond, Virginia, paying almost $3,000 to have their daughter aborted, according to Live Action News.
On Feb. 7, their unborn daughter was aborted. An “In memory of” card from the hospital published by ABC News says the baby girl weighed 12.4 ounces. The photo also shows a mold of the imprints of her feet.
Unborn babies with Down syndrome are discriminated against at an alarming rate – despite growing efforts to celebrate and value people with special needs.
“It is unfortunately very common for doctors to exaggerate risks of pregnancy with a child with Down syndrome and place pressure on women to have an abortion after receiving a Down syndrome diagnosis,” said Cassy Fiano-Chesser, Live Action writer and mother of a child with Down Syndrome.
Fiano-Chesser said the Down Syndrome Diagnosis Network features testimonies of families who have had their children called “vegetables” and “it,” and a recent survey found many doctors still give outdated information to encourage women to have abortions.
Researchers estimate between 60 percent and 90 percent of unborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted in the United States. In other countries, the deadly discrimination rate is nearly 100 percent.
A mother from Scotland recently told the Daily Record that she was offered an abortion at 37 weeks of pregnancy, almost full term, because her son has Down syndrome. Another British mother Emma Mellor told the BBC that she was pressured to abort her unborn daughter 15 times, including right up to the moment of her baby’s birth.
At the same time, people with Down syndrome are living longer, healthier and fuller lives than ever before because of modern medical advances and better support services for people with special needs. Some even attend college, work regular jobs and get married. Earlier this year, actor James Martin became the first person with Down syndrome to win an Academy Award. The toy company Mattel also just announced plans to release a new Barbie doll with Down syndrome later this year.
My nephew and his wife had a Down’s baby last year. They wouldn’t trade him for the world.
We really should be killing leftists..for their own good.
why would doctors encourage women to abort their DS babies?
Your pain and trauma is nothing compared to what you inflicted on your daughter ...
Repent.
While you can.
This b— is nothing but a hedonistic, evil, no good, deplorable, abominable excuse for a dreg of society! She deserves to burn for eternity!
In memory of ...
Surely not "In LOVING memory of" ...
Maybe "In hateful and vindictive memory of"?
“why would doctors encourage women to abort their DS babies?”
That is a loaded question.
This article was put out in 1999 but I still hear about it today from parents of Downs kids.
*************************
Parents of people with Down’s syndrome report suboptimal care
People with Down’s syndrome may be receiving suboptimal care because of their condition, suggests a survey published this week by the UK Down’s Syndrome Association.
The survey of 1509 parents who belong to the association found that 28%of respondents expressed a high level of dissatisfaction with the medical care that their child had received.
Liz Marder, consultant community paediatrician, Nottingham Community Health NHS Trust, and medical adviser to the association, said: “Incidents reported in the survey demonstrated that many parents were concerned that the fact that their children had Down’s syndrome affected the treatment decisions made by health professionals.
“The vast majority of patients with Down’s syndrome get good care. But the survey revealed that some get second rate care because of the Down’s,” reported Dr Marder.
Examples suggested that people with Down’s syndrome had been denied treatment for common ailments such as hearing and sight problems. “It appeared that some doctors had suggested that hearing loss did not matter because a child had Down’s, rather than that it was even more important,” she explained.
Some parents with critically ill children reported having been invited to withhold life saving treatment, contrary to standard practice. There were also several cases, including those of patients requiring hip replacement or a renal transplant, in which parents were told that the operation could not be performed because health professionals were concerned that informed consent could not be obtained properly from a person with Down’s syndrome.
The Down’s Syndrome Association has recommended wider implementation of routine checks for all health problems in people with Down’s syndrome and better training for medical students about learning disabilities.
The association is providing a special insert for the parent held personal child health records which will contain information for parents and professionals to help maintain the health of children with the syndrome.
The 14 page insert has been developed by the Down’s Syndrome Medical Interest Group (a group of doctors with a particular interest in the condition) and includes information about ex-pected developmental progress, a suggested schedule of health checks, and a set of Down’s syndrome specific growth charts.
The insert is available from the Down’s Syndrome Medical Information Services (tel: 0115 962 7658, ext 45667).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1115134/
Those so called doctors are no better than Josef Mengeles and the rest of the nazi “scientists”!
A young man with Downs Syndrome was celebrated last year for his finish in the Boston Marathon.
In 2017, I underwent testing to be eligible for transplant surgery. The very first day I was waiting to have a bone scan, and I met a young man, a Downs patient, and he was very outgoing, coming up to me in the waiting room and introducing himself. The smile on his face was pure sunshine. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him, because they called me in just then, but I never got over that encounter.
We should be more like them in some respects. The world would be better off for it.
Yes, caring for a Down Syndrome baby can be a trial.
God may choose to give you that trial, to prove your faithfulness, and for you to be an agent of his love.
And if you accept that trial, He will reward you 1000X over, in ways you can never imagine or plan for. That is absolutely certain.
so the doctors are concerned a DS baby/kid won’t get needed medical treatment down the line?
People have different tolerances. She could have adopted him/her to others. Left it at the Hospital. Personally, I don’t know what I would do. I have great grandchildren now, and love children. Looking back at my attitudes 50 years ago?
My wife was 38 when our daughter was conceived. The doctor asked if we wanted to do an amniocentesis too see if she was a Downs baby. We firmly declined and told him she would be loved and cared for no matter what. She was perfectly healthy and is now a beautiful and sassy 22 year old.
Maybe she did, maybe she didn't???
I've seen that diagnosis go completely wrong.
A couple I worked with was told their daughter would be born with Down syndrome.
Dad, wanted an abortion and Mom refused.
The baby was born perfectly fine.
How's you like to be that Father who was reminded every time he looked at or thought about his daughter, he also had to know that he wanted her dead?
Call it what it really is:
Pure unadulterated EVIL!
Correct!
My mother was told that while pregnant with my brother, that my brother was diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome.
Guess what? The doctor fudged that diagnosis and my brother was born perfectly normal.
The way people portray doctors as infallible is laughable. They make far more mistakes and misdiagnoses than you realize.
I’m betting her baby was perfectly normal and there was no valid medical reason to abort. Hence, it was murder.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.