Can we help society embrace a mother and a patient in the womb at the same time? 

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the guest author.

News and social media reports are flying about Kate Cox, a 31-year-old pregnant woman with two more children, suing to get an abortion in Texas for a fetal diagnosis of Trisomy 18, a chromosomal abnormality linked to birth defects , stillbirth. , or perinatal death. In the end, Ms. Cox was unsuccessful and went out of state to have an abortion.

Although an abnormal fetal diagnosis is traumatic for any parent, I remember how important medical counseling and professional recommendations can add to or alleviate that trauma, depending on the presentation. Although many of these children do not survive to birth or die shortly after birth, some survive into the teenage or adult years.

This disability, while often described as incompatible with life, is quite variable in its presentation and thus, the lack of consistent outcome complicates decision making.

Born by Ms. Cox had her other two children by cesarean section, so there was the argument that induction for vaginal birth could cause uterine rupture or that repeated C-sections could cause future complications with her own health. and fertility. A national conversation began about the politics and legality of her requesting a D&E (Dilatation & Evacuation) abortion to reduce her personal health risk and provide a “humane” resolution to her baby’s poor prenatal diagnosis. It’s also hard to know how much of it was his own feelings or if it was just what his doctors advised him to do.

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An unfortunate pattern since reversing the Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs The decision is overwhelming medical misinformation, hyperbole, and actually on the pro-abortion side fueled by a lack of understanding of medical situations as well as variation in individual state laws.

Health care professionals (HCPs) are often misinformed about management and terminology. Some of these HCPs are affected by their own ideological concerns. We found a treatment for ectopic pregnancies, incomplete miscarriages, and retained placentas called “abortions.” We’ve seen pro-lifers accused of wanting women to walk around with dead babies. We are repeatedly characterized as having no feelings or concerns for the mother, only the fetus, and only then until birth.

People seem to have no idea what abortion really is or what they are supporting. I wonder, if they were in the room when an unborn baby was aborted, would they feel the same way about it?

In an abortion, an unborn baby is hormonally starved (abortion pill), vacuumed out (suction aspiration), scraped (D&C/Dilatation & Curettage), dismembered — torn limb from limb (D&E/Dilatation & Evacuation ), or lethal injection of a substance such as digoxin (a drug commonly used to treat heart failure) and then delivered (induction abortion). A later type of abortion, a D&X (Dilatation & Extraction, sometimes referred to as a partial birth abortion) is when a full-term late second or third trimester baby is born with the breech apart from the head. , and the cranial contents are suctioned out of the skull to decompress it enough to deliver.

In Cox’s case, the D&E likely involved severing her living unborn baby or killing the baby first with digoxin, so the baby was less mobile during the removal of body parts. . This was after Cox’s cervix was forcibly dilated and instruments were used to hold and pull out the baby; an arm, a leg, a body, and the head, which usually has to be crushed to remove it without difficulty. The cruelty of this method is hard to fathom.

Most OBGYNs are actually not trained in this procedure, as it is difficult to perform and is known to carry significant risk to the mother. Those risks include bleeding, uterine perforation from surgical instruments or fetal bone fragments, infection or sepsis from incomplete removal of fetal and pregnancy tissues, and future risk of preterm birth due to forced dilation of the cervix. Many OBGYNs do not perform this procedure because it is traumatic to pull out a piece of the baby.

Remember, an unborn baby with Trisomy 18 is not a threat to the mother and many of these babies survive and live with disabilities.

The idea that mothers or society feels justified in targeting a baby for a brutal death because of his disability is chilling. This is not to say that pro-life doctors do not care about the mother; her physical and emotional well-being requires careful discussion and shared decision-making about her birth route. These discussions are the same if a baby is stillborn. Pro-life doctors have been providing life-affirming care for women for decades knowing that we have two patients — the mother and her unborn child — who are the same person regardless. any disability.

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This year, I had the privilege of caring for a woman whose baby had Trisomy 13. The baby had many physical abnormalities but the parents wanted to treat their child with dignity like any other unborn child. baby The hospital scheduled meetings about possible outcomes, because the parents were very clear that they would not consider termination.

Their baby was born alive at 38 weeks and the parents and siblings were able to spend some time with their new family member before he passed away peacefully. The parents remained steadfast in the face of visible irritation expressed by some hospital administration and staff over their decision, some of which seemed to surround perceived medico-legal issues. In the end, this couple was able to hold and say goodbye to their son before he died.

“Depriving them” of this gift of humanity by prematurely killing their child is unthinkable to them, like a reminder of the eugenics of the past. These parents are my heroes.

bio: Dr. Poppy Daniels is a pro-life OBGYN and hormone/recurrent pregnancy loss/fertility expert in private practice in Ozark, MO. He is on X @drpoppyBHRT and his website is drpoppyandco.com.

The DOJ jailed a pro-life grandmother this Christmas for protesting the killing of preborn children. Please take 30 seconds to TELL CONGRESS: STOP DOJ FROM TARGETING PRO-LIFE AMERICANS.