Assuming Abortion
June 11, 2009
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Posted by Ray Fowler
Gretchen Naugle shares a troubling story about what happened two years ago when she went for a 4-D ultrasound appointment.
The specialist doctor called me in after the ultrasound to go over the findings. The first words out of his mouth to me were “Well you will have to come in tomorrow for your abortion because of how far along you are.” I was utterly shocked and devastated. All I could do was mutter “What??????” He then proceeded to tell me that my baby had more “markers” for down syndrome and it didn’t look good. I was more shocked that his automatic assumption was that I would abort my baby. I almost couldn’t comprehend what he was telling me in that office. All I wanted to do was run as far away from that man as possible.
Gretchen’s daughter was born several months later with no physical problems.
Categories: Abortion
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The same thing happened to a friend of mine. She also had her baby and her baby was absolutely fine as well. Even had her baby had Down’s syndrome, he would have had a life worth living. They are a wonderful family!
Sharon – I agree. What is troubling about this story is not that a healthy baby might have been aborted due to a misdiagnosis, but that the doctor just assumed that the parents would want to abort a baby with Down’s syndrome. According to recent statistics, as many as 90% of babies diagnosed with Down’s syndrome are aborted in the U.S. today.
This must be fairly common as I also knew someone with such a diagnosis. She did not accept the profferred abortion, and gave birth to a lovely healthy baby, although she and her husband were prepared to welcome a baby with Down’s. I am thankful for the Palins’ very public decision to carry their baby to term and hope it inspires many other parents of would-be Down’s babies.
Bethany – I guess it must be more common than most of us realize. I agree about the Palin family. I also hope their example will help other families to choose life even under difficult circumstances.
I’m a little late finding this blog & thread, but would like to offer the experience of an Robert Murphy, employee of mine in Alabama a few years ago. His wife, a nurse, was told based on amniocentesis that the child she was carrying had spina bifida and would likely not not more than a few hours, or if it survived it would be horribly handicapped. Abortion was recommended, emphatically.
After some soul-searching, they chose not to abort. As Jennifer’s time came to deliver, they expected the worst. When the baby emerged, they found him ABSOLUTELY PERFECT IN EVERY WAY. He is blond, beautiful, all boy, smart and strong as can be, with no hint of spina bifida. Whether he was miraculously healed while in the womb, or the diagnosis had been wrong all along, this couple was stunned at the possibility that they might have destroyed this precious life out of reliance on supposedly “expert” medical advice.
Barry – Thanks for sharing your friend’s experience. It is amazing (and sobering) how often this seems to happen.