"In a 1979 decision in the case of Colautti v. Franklin, the
supreme Court ruled that the exact moment of viability for an infant cannot be
determined by law, but must be left to the judgement of the attending
physician. Therefore, it is certainly possible for a woman to be in one of
the hospital's operating rooms for an abortion of her 24-week-old fetus, while
in the next room, doctors are striving to sustain the life of an infant born
prematurely at 24 weeks gestation."
-Frank P. Manginello, M. D. Your Premature Baby
This quote never fails to sicken me. It comes from a book that I was given when my 23w6d baby girl was in the NICU. The nurses provide all the preemie parents with a copy. It is a well-written, invaluable resource as you take on challenge after challenge... sickness, breathing problems, apnea, the list goes on and on...
But that line stuck with me.
The idea that these children (for they are no less) could tossed away like so much garbage is appalling. If you haven't already, I challenge you to research your state's individual abortion laws. You may be opposed to abortion altogether (as I, admittedly, am and always have been...), but even if you're not, I urge you to challenge the idea of 2nd term (and beyond!) terminations.
**That's my baby girl at one week old in the photo above! And me, in my absolute delight to hold her in my hands for the very first time...**
This makes me sick. The recent event in Indianapolis where a mother, pregnant with twins, was shot and lost her two babies is interesting. Because the babies weren't a certain number of weeks along, the suspect in the shooting literally gets away with murder. Something needs to be done to change the laws!
ReplyDeleteRyann-- That bank teller works for the same bank as my husband (different branch). He and I were so sickened by all of that... but I wanted to shout a big "Amen!" when I heard a local congressman despair over the current law and cite his 24-week nephew as an example of why the law is out-dated and absurd... we need more people like that in the system!
ReplyDeleteRather than be disgusted over the presidential debate, arrrg... I've spent some of my evening reading through your archives. This particular post... BEAUTIFUL picture. Oh, if people only knew what they were throwing away. Really... so sad.
ReplyDeleteYour picture caught my eye over at WE are That Family's contest, so I wanted to check it out. My daughter was a 28 weeker born at just under 2 1/2 pounds. We went through a roller coaster ride with her...which I have no doubt you also did with your wee one. I have often said something along the same lines as the quote that you gave. I started saying that back in 2006 when one of our babies was born at 23 weeks 6 days and the attendind ob/gyn of the hospital I was at refused to even call the NICU to try to save our daughter. She lived for a full hour on her own before she finally passed away. To this day I cannot believe that a doctor who has taken the Hippocratic oath could have done such a thing. Anyways, I just wanted to say hello and that I totally understand the amount of joy that you have in this picture. Hugz
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