Posted on 12/15/2023 7:02:27 PM PST by Morgana
When Kate Cox sued the state of Texas earlier this month hoping a judge would allow her to abort her baby at 21 weeks, her story spread rapidly across the media. She claimed she wanted to do what was “best” for her daughter but asked the court to allow a D&E abortion which is carried out by dismemberment.
Abortion advocates rallied around Cox, arguing that her daughter should die by dismemberment D&E abortion rather than be born and “suffer,” fully ignoring how a child at 21 weeks is pain-capable and dismemberment isn’t a way anyone would wish to die. They agreed with Cox that she should be able to kill her preborn daughter due to her disability, and try again for a healthy baby.
Even Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont got in on the action, urging Cox to come to his abortion haven state so the abortionists there can participate in killing her child. “We have a safe harbor rule here and I said, you’re welcome to a state like Connecticut, where you respect a woman’s right to choose,” said Lamont. “We’re a firewall. We’re not going to let those that want to take away people’s freedoms in other states try and bring that here.”
But then, families of individuals with Trisomy 18 began firing back at the discriminatory remarks and the widespread support for the baby girl’s killing.
Faith Smith
Grace Fisher, whose sister Faith Smith has Trisomy 18, shared her heartfelt thoughts about her sister and Cox’s baby.
“The baby who my parents were told was ‘incompatible with life’ and a ‘fetal fatal anomaly’ was a bridesmaid in my wedding in May,” she wrote, continuing (emphasis added):
And turns out she’s no longer a baby. Faith is going to be 15 years old in just a few days. As we are looking forward to celebrating her life, there is a mother in Texas seeking to murder her child. Because her baby is going to be like Faith. A death sentence because her baby is going to be different.
Being 20 weeks pregnant with my own child, I have a new perspective on what being the expecting mom is like. And I have to say it’s made it even more unfathomable to me that the answer to the possibility of suffering is to kill the child.
Death is not a cure. It’s not compassionate to rip a baby to pieces. The child in the womb with a significant diagnosis is not unworthy of life.
Faith loves her life!! Trisomy 18 is what she has, but it is not who she is. She is funny, kind, loving, brave, beautiful, and joyful. Her diagnosis does not dictate her value. Her worth is not dependent on what a doctor says. She is beautifully and wonderfully made.
And so is Kate Cox’s baby.
Baby Abel
In a video that reached a million views on TikTok before being censored, Jessie shared the story of her son Abel, who had Trisomy 18. Abel had been a twin and Jessie and her husband opted for medical intervention for Abel at birth. He would later pass away at seven months old in his mother’s arms.
“My trisomy 18 baby never threatened my life, or the life of his twin brother,” Jessie said in the video. “His life blessed ours in so many ways. All he knew was love. I’m so grateful for these memories. We have been so blessed by his beautiful life. No one knows how long they have… I’m so thankful for our 210 days.”
She also wrote, “Turns out, the meaning of life is simple. It’s the celebration of any life. No matter limitation or duration, the meaning of life is the beauty of life no matter the timelines.”
When Abel died, she knew “how absolutely meaningful, profound and purposeful his life was.”
More families share their stories of life with Trisomy 18
An Instagram post from Live Action founder and president Lila Rose discussed Cox’s case and garnered nearly 20,000 likes. Among the nearly 1,000 comments were those from family members of people living with Trisomy 18.
Tiffany, whose five-year-old daughter has Trisomy 18, wrote (emphasis added):
Our community has kids as old as 42 in it. My daughter is five years old and a very loved member of our family. This diagnosis is full spectrum, just like all things in life, and not the black and white, one-size-applies-to-all label that they are making this out to be.
The defamation and lies being said about this diagnosis and our children isn’t only just untrue, it’s actually incredibly dangerous. it’s furthering outdated statistics and personal opinions about our kids that make it very hard to get unbiased, supportive medical care.
What this woman has been told is one possible outcome, leaving out all the rest of the possible outcomes and sadly, this isn’t uncommon in the experience of newly diagnosed parents.
The mother of Harper Grace commented (emphasis added):
I’m an RN and my daughter, Harper Grace has full trisomy 18 and is almost 7 years old. Shes leading a phenomenal life. …. The statistics surrounding trisomy 18 are heavily skewed. The mortality rate does NOT take into consideration which babies actually died in utero naturally, vs those that were aborted. They’re all clumped together making the prenatal death rate much higher.
In terms of those who die ‘shortly after birth’ those statistics don’t say how many were denied any medical care whatsoever, resulting in death. If I had cancer and left it untreated it’s 100% fatal. If you have heart disease and heart failure and leave it untreated, that TOO is 100% fatal. This case is an extreme push for eugenics against those who are born differently abled. It’s disgusting.
No child deserves to die by dismemberment simply because they have a health diagnosis. New research is showing that children with Trisomy 18 are not destined to die at birth as previously believed. When given proper medical care, such as life-saving heart surgery, newborns with the condition have a 90% discharge rate.
“Giving these kids medical care makes it possible for them to live past a year,” said Faith’s doctor Dr. Glenn Green. “We know that there are things that can be done.”
Somebody needs to inform Hannity about this, since he is claiming the baby is essentially dead due to the condition.
If the child is destined to die, it ought to die with a mother and father who love it and will mourn over it’s death.
Hannity is right. This case makes pro-lifers look cruel.
This woman has two children and wants more. This baby will not live and forcing her to deliver it could render her unable to have any more children.
Does abortion not also have the ability for someone not to be able to have future children?
I find abortion abhorrent, I’ll get slammed for it, but I have more pressing political issues than something people have been doing through history.
Did you read the article?
You might want to before commenting in this case.
That’s the issue, they don’t want to see the kid or the diagnosis doesn’t fit their lifestyle.
Thankfully the wife and I have not had to deal with anything like this with our kids; I couldn’t imagine the pain and suffering of bearing a kid you know will go before you, but I’d at least want to hold my child.
I've been following the actual case, not the Life Action News propaganda.
I'm more concerned that pro-life zealots are going to usher in communism.
They won't save a single baby and every far-left platform position will become the Law of the Land when otherwise conservative candidates lose to full-blown communists over the abortion issue.
Let Democrats abort, they’re rotten parents, anyway.
No one here gets out alive.
Any baby could damage your uterus, even perfectly healthy ones.
I had two miscarriages. Both were dangerous. I had a premature abruption and delivered my second child by emergency c-section. My third child had a two-vessel umbilical cord, typically an indication of severe genetic abnormalities. The doctors pushed to terminate.
He is now 18, a good looking kid, getting ready to graduate high school and go on to college, has earned several awards for academic excellence, and has a very pretty, super sweet girlfriend. He is kind, smart, highly ethical, and healthy.
Doctors are not God. They don’t play God on TV.
The abortion may seem like an escape hatch now. It will haunt her for the rest of her life.
Abortion treats people like disposable commodities. It completely ignores their value as a human being with a soul.
You're spewing propaganda. I have a friend who had an abortion at 18. Kate has never used birth control but because of the scar tissue from the abortion, it took her 20 years to get pregnant for her son.
And...this woman could get hit by a truck tomorrow...
Why do you believe legalizing codifying human beings as personal property is acceptable at any cost ?
We already had one Civil War with the Democrats over this, do you think giving into their desire to own humans will end well this time ?
Nonsense. It's abortions which cause the damage and sterility, not pregnancy.
If pregnancy resulted in sterility, that same thing could be said of ANY pregnancy. A genetic defect in a child has no bearing on the mother's future fertility.
Would you want to be dismembered limb from limb without anesthesia because someone decided you were not worthy of life?
It's easy to be *pro-choice* when you are not the one being killed.
It isn't the pregnancy. It's the C-section. She's already had two C-sections. She'd need a third to deliver this doomed child.
Women can only have so many C-sections. I'm sure you know that.
I stand by my assertion. This is a bad case for pro-lifers to champion.
Yeah, no. Hannity’s not right on that one. Read the article next time.
This mother has experienced painful cramping, diarrhea and the leaking of amniotic fluid resulting in at least 3 trips to the ER. The leaking of amniotic fluid can cause sepsis which is a life-threatening condition to both the fetus and the mother and with a narrow window to successfully treat.
I recall the case of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Savita_Halappanavar
As found on the many sonograms subsequently performed, there are also significant abnormalities of the baby’s spine, heart, skull, brain, lungs and limb development. Unlike some of the Trisomy 18 stories told in the OP, these conditions are completely incompatible with life.
Sadly, this baby will die and even if she dies in the womb or dies shortly after birth, it will be a still be painful death. And if she lives even for a short time, the cost of supporting her in a NICU will be enormous.
She would likely receive only “palliative care” but then “some” pro-lifers equate this to be the same as a post birth abortion, i.e. “if you let a dying baby die a natural death without exhausting all means no matter how futile, you’ve in essence, killed the baby. Again, I said some but I’ve come across quite a few who take this position.
I want to also point out the Missouri state representative Brian Seitz who wrote abortion legislation that would make it a criminal offence for a doctor to terminate an ectopic pregnancy, saying that “doctors don’t have a way of determining if a pregnancy is ectopic” and another in Ohio who stated that doctors could “reimplant an ectopic pregnancy” and should be criminally charged if they didn’t.
Fortunately, neither of these passed but when we have politicians like these writing laws that criminalize what has long been the standard of care as determined by doctors in such difficult cases or judges who rule on these cases with no medical background, it turns this not into a “pro-life” issue but a “pro-birth” issue.
And that becomes hard to reconcile when so many republican politicians are trying to reduce or eliminate Medicaid and other programs like Early Intervention and others, meant to help support families with children with severe disabilities.
Pre-birth - Save the Fetus at all costs!
Post -birth - Screw your kid’s needs! I’m not going to pay for it!
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