A Late Decision, a Lasting Anguish

L.A. Slimes ^ | 5/31/05 | By Stephanie Simon Times Staff Writer

[yooling]

WICHITA, Kan. — The moment is burned forever in her mind: The small exam room, her husband's ashen face, her sobs as the doctor guided a needle into her womb to kill her son.

It's been 4 1/2 years, and still Marie Becker can feel Daniel kicking inside her, kicking and kicking as she choked back hysteria — kicking until the drug stopped his heart and she felt only stillness.

She prayed Daniel would forgive her.

She prayed for forgiveness from God as well. Becker had been taught that abortion was a sin; she wanted so to believe it might also be a blessing. In her seventh month of pregnancy she had learned Daniel had a fatal genetic disorder and his life would be brief and brutal. She wanted to spare him that.

[yooling]

I feel sick to my stomach.

[goldstategop]

A MSM hosanna on behalf of partial birth abortion. Gee, it just warms one's heart to read the inevitable sob story and then the punch line on how abortion has delivered the poor woman from a horrible fate. It makes the reader want to know why we don't allow abortion-on-demand in this country. Why, the injustice of those white male sexist pig legislators telling women what they can do with their bodies! Never mind this story is all one-sided. But that's what happens in the mindset of the Los Angeles Times journalists, where an ideological agenda overrides objective reporting. Here's a prominent example of a liberal media bias hostile to the pro-life viewpoint.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[muawiyah]

Hmmmm. This story doesn't have anything about the mother dieing. That's in China in fact. You must tow the line or they might kill you.

I strongly suspect the abortionists enjoyed his fee and dined well that evening. He enjoys his work!

[Miss Marple]

There is no instance that the medical community has ever documented in which a partial birth abortion (killing the child right before delivery) would save a mother's life. The child still has to be delivered, although dead. If the child has been carried to near term (which is when a PBA occurs) any of the risks of carrying a pregnancy have already been incurred.

[jocon307]

Unbelievable. George Tiller, killer of babies, destroyer of women's minds, corrupter of children.

I especially liked the one about the women who couldn't face the prospect of her daughter having surgery for her heart defect, so she killed her! And then asks "Was that wrong?" Well, duh!

And the women who had the abortion because she thought having a child with Down's syndrome would be too mentally stressful, and putting the child up for adoption would be too mentally stressful. Post-abortion she is so stressed she can't even drive to the HS to watch her (luckily non-aborted) daughter cheerlead. Way to go Mom!

And the article plainly states that Tiller the Killer is killing 100% healthy babies in the third trimester, so I sure as heck hope the man who wants to prosecute him reads this piece.

[sneakers]

Presumably, "late term" means the child is viable. The baby has to be delivered, so why not deliver it alive? There is NO excuse for EVER killing a baby that late in a pregnancy! "Saving the life of the mother" is a non-issue that far into the pregnancy. If the mother has her baby killed, it is simply because the baby is 'inconvenient' and/or the mother is very selfish.

[Coldwater Creek]

I have had a number of children and one of them my life was in danger, but the thought of sticking a pair of scissors in my child's brain and killing them would never have been an issue. By the time the baby's body is out of the womb, what danger could the mother be in? Have you never heard of a C section?

[Smartaleck]

• Ron Fitzsimmons, the executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, admitted in The New York Times Feb. 26, 1997 that he "lied through my teeth" on Nightline when he said, "the procedure was used rarely and only on women whose lives were in danger or whose fetuses were damage " According to The New York Times, Fitzsimmons admits the procedure is performed far more often than his colleagues have acknowledged and on healthy women bearing healthy babies. 19

• Marianne Lombardi, in a NET Television commentary said,. "When the president boldly and falsely says that Congress was risking a woman's infertility by banning this procedure, no one said a thing. ... This is an out-and-out lie: infertility is not an issue in bringing a severely deformed child to term; rather the opposite is true - having a third-trimester abortion can severely impact fertility and may even cause death to the mother." -- Washington Times 27

• "There are absolutely no obstetrical situations encountered in this country which require a partially delivered human fetus to be destroyed to preserve the life of the mother." -- Pamela Smith, Director of the Medical Education Department of Ob-Gyn at Mount Saini Hospital in Chicago. 9
http://www.straight-talk.net/abortion/partial.shtml

[sgtbono2002]

If one District Attorney with gnads charged this doctor with murder and prosecuted him to the hilt it would stop.

How many juries could look at the murderer of 200 babies and not convict.

[no more apples]

So very, very sad.

Her mental health, she is convinced, would be even worse had she tried to raise a profoundly disabled son — or had she given him up for adoption.

At least if she had tried these other options, killing wouldn't have been the cause of her depression. And, quite frankly, we never know our capacity to handle adversity until we are faced with it. I, personally, would rather not have to deal with the guilty conscience that she now has.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Or to continue with a pregnancy knowing that the baby's life will be "short and brutal". Dealing every day with well-meaning strangers' upbeat comments and questions. Feeling more and more physical discomfort from the late stages of pregnancy, that force her to curtail her normal activities, and make it even harder not to think all day every day about the tragic day that is approaching. Neither the government, nor religious busybodies, have the right to force mothers and their tragically defective babies to suffer needlessly.

[madprof98]

It's nice that we don't have to speculate what sort of people favor killing the defective. We have several outstanding examples right here on Free Republic. Did you notice, though, that reading the chilling sentiments of these self-described humanitarians only makes the rest of us more resolute in our belief that decent people must oppose the murder of the innocent?

[Coldwater Creek]

You have the right to condone murder if you want.!!!!!!!!!!

You are expressing your opinion same as us religious busybodies.

[BCrago66]

What's with the link to Yahoo News search?

[macamadamia]

"tragically defective babies"




(spoken like a good little German)

[Millicent_Hornswaggle]

Me too. How can anyone do this and see justification for it? It is still murder. Wanting not to go to the trouble of having a child because it will mean too much work or emotional distress is a disturbing picture of the selfishness of today's society. Children are a gift from God.

[Politicalmom]

And doctors are NEVER wrong, of course.

[moondoggie]

You're absolutely right!

The mother still has to endure the birthing process only the baby is dead instead of alive.

PBA to save the life of the mother makes no sense whatsoever.

Maybe those who defend this practice think that "saving the life of the mother" actually means "saving her from the responsibility of caring for a child".

[motormouth]

I volunteer for a family that has a little girl with cerebral palsy. It is their only child. She is the most precious, baby I have ever met in my life. She is truly a gift. Her parents feel the same. They wouldnt trade her for the world!!