Baby Hope |
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Rochester Area Right To Life |
Mona Charen on the Baby Hope Situation
Editorial by Mona Charen
Cincinnati -- The woman was 22 weeks pregnant when she sought the assistance of Dr. Martin
Haskell, the originator of the partial-birth abortion procedure, to rid herself of her
already-kicking child.
Haskell performed the first stage of the partial-birth abortion. He inserted a
seaweed-based substance into the woman's cervix and instructed her to return the following
day. In the usual course of events, the seaweed absorbs the amniotic fluid from the womb
and expands, thus slowly dilating the cervix. The next day, new seaweed is inserted. On
the third day, the abortionist opens the cervix with his fingers, feels around for the
baby's legs and pulls them out of the birth canal. He rotates the fetus' shoulders so that
the baby's face is oriented toward the mother's lower back and then, using scissors, he
punctures the bottom of the baby's skull and suctions the brain out through a tube.
But in this case, things did not go according to plan. The woman complained of severe
abdominal pain on the first night and, being far from Haskell's clinic, reported to the
emergency room of her local hospital, Bethesda North, in Cincinnati. As she was being
examined (she did not say she was pregnant), the baby was born -- alive. Pediatricians and
neonatologists came running. The baby girl weighed in at 1 pound. The doctors decided that
the child was very unlikely to survive and instructed that nothing be done.
Connie Boyles, a nurse, and Shelly Lowe, a medical technician, saw the baby girl gasp for
air and were stunned. Lowe, knowing that the nurses were busy caring for other patients in
the emergency room, asked if she could hold the child she dubbed "Baby Hope"
until she died. The request was granted.
Lowe wrapped Baby Hope in a blanket and settled into a rocking chair for what she imagined
would be just a few minutes. She sang to her and stroked her cheeks. "I wanted her to
feel that she was wanted," Lowe explained later. "She was a perfectly formed
newborn, entering the world too soon, through no choice of her own." The baby sucked
on her lower lip, opened and closed her hands, and moved a bit as Lowe held her. She also
did something else -- she continued to breathe on her own. Dr. John Willke, a pro-life
activist and former obstetrician, says he doesn't quarrel with the initial determination
made by the emergency-room physicians that Baby Hope was too small and too premature to
survive. But, he says, when she was still alive and breathing room air 30 minutes after
birth, her status should have been reassessed. An excellent neonatal care unit was a mere
helicopter ride away. And she might have been saved.
As it is, nothing was done. After three hours, Baby Hope died in the arms of the
compassionate Shelly Lowe. The state of Ohio issued her a death certificate. The cause of
death was listed as "extreme prematurity secondary to induced abortion." Would
Dr. Haskell have issued her a death certificate at his shop, or does he simply throw the
bodies in the trash?
Very few premature infants survive when born before 23 weeks, though there have been
survivors at 22 weeks. Still, one has to wonder: If a woman who did want her baby
spontaneously aborted in an emergency room, would the doctors have been so quick to give
up on the child? Would they ignore the signs of unusual vitality this infant showed? (Most
premature babies have trouble breathing without assistance. That this infant was able to
breathe room air was amazing.) Was Baby Hope's value as a human being secondary to her
value to the mother?
If we judge people's humanity by any standard other than that each is a unique individual
with God-given rights, we demean every person's dignity. A child is a child.
Would-be adoptive parents wait years and years or go abroad in search of children to love.
Lowe was asked at a press conference what her position on abortion was. She said she
had been pro-choice but was now pro-life. What changed her mind?
Three hours.
Source: The Pro-Life Infonet is a daily compilation of pro-life news and
information. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe" to: infonet-
[email protected]. Infonet is sponsored by Women and Children First
(http://www.prolifeinfo.org/wcf). For more pro-life info visit http://www.prolifeinfo.org
and for questions or additional information email [email protected]
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