Who cares what the cost is, it is a human life and we must fight for the lives of the little ones lives.
I can understand a family saying enough and only wanting comfort measures in some situations. To kill by abortion or speed up the dying, is wrong though. I saw a post below where someone was horrified of a child that lived in a comatose state for 18 months. Not all people view disability like this though. The short little lives can often make a difference for the good in someone else's life. I say, keep helping these babies as long as there is hope.
I understand completely what you are saying and it indeed a problem, both morally and fiscally. Those on this thread who are so sure of their position need to be careful. Things change dramatically when you are personally presented with the type of situation you describe. My personal experience turned me from a Pro Choice to a Pro Life belief, however I do realize there are limits. Obviously these babies would have died naturally without extensive and constant medical support, and even worse many times the children go home to an environment that was directly responsible for their horrific birth problems. They will never receive the support and care they will need for the rest of their lives, the only option is for the taxpayers (who are raising their own children on limited resources)to pay and pay and pay.
I respect your view of things as a prolife doctor, and these are good points. It's true that some medical technologies are a waste of time and effort (and, yes, money), especially for a tiny preemie who is already close to death. There is no moral obligation whatsoever to employ futile, expensive technologies to prolong the dying process. Ventilators, dialysis, surgery -- there can be a point where they are truly too burdensome, and the baby's parents have the right to say, "No more. Take away the wires and pumps, let us baptize him, let us hold our little baby in our arms: "living or dying, he is the Lord's."
That is NOT the same as withdrawing "ordinary care," which includes nutrition and hydration, hygienic and comfort care, antibiotics and pain management. It is not the same as medical abandonment. And it is emphatically not the same as active euthanasia.
This is the 21st century. There is no need to hasten death, and there is no need for the baby to be in pain. Pain management for the dying is something we really do know how to do: isn't that true, doc? A wise MD, Dr. Jose Espinosa, once told me, "In all my 40 years of practicing medicine, I have never seen intractable pain. But I have seen intractable doctors and nurses."
The baby has a soul. Who is to say that this life is worthless? Isn't the premise that every person is a child of God Christ's entire teaching in a nutshell? Jesus' message taught that life is not a commodity based on a worthwhile outcome or a person who must have some measurable economic worth as WE see it.
I see your point, however, we must try to attack the root cause, drug addiction and permissive sex in a culture out of control, and not "sacrifice" the result of this behavior which is an innocent child of God. If we follow the logic of worthiness, every person now in a wheel chair following a swimming pool accident with a fracture at C-5 has the same argument to look forward to in due course!
This alternative is sheer expediency and if you use that evil premise, we are back at eugenics and the Nazi era.
Thank you so very much for posting this response to the thread and apologies for not responding sooner. It's been quite a busy day.
They all have severely underdeveloped organs and have little chance of survival. Many are kept alive for months in intensive care and some who do survive are institutionalized for life. I believe that every life is priceless. However, the cost of this care is ENORMOUS.
Yes! I understand. In November 2004, a couple from my parish gave birth to their first child .. a boy! He was born at the normal gestational age. Despite all the pre-natal testing, the child was born with serious birth defects (no anus and heart problems). Our Maronite Catholic pastor was immediately summoned and administerd Last Rites, before the child was wheeled into emergency surgery. He not only survived the collostomy procedure but even rallied in its aftermath. As he began to grow however, the heart problem needed to be addressed. (Apologies, I don't have any more specific details other than what was told us through the grandmother).
Over the next 9 months, this child underwent several surgical procedures to correct various birth defects and rebounded after each one. The family was wealthy and could afford these procedures. The parish community that prayed for him, rode a rollercoaster. He was well and returned home; he had a relapse and was back in the hospital. On one particular Sunday, the grandmother approached me after Mass and asked me to pray for this grandchild and his parents. Seeing the look of concern on our faces, one of the elderly parishioners looked us both steadfastly in the face and said: "God's will be done!". That comment bored a hole in my heart. He was right. The outcome was in God's hands and God does not do anything without a purpose.
Several months later, word reached us that the baby had been flown to Boston Children's Hospital and was to undergo a 14 hour procedure to rectify his problems. Following surgery, the surgical team sat down with the parents to explain that every procedure known to man had been done to save the life of their first born child. He was a very sick child and nothing more could be done to salvage his life. Nine months to the day following his birth, Michael David was placed in the arms of his mother. The nurses removed life support and he died peacefully in her loving embrace.
His funeral is one I will NEVER forget. All the money in the world could not save the life of this child. The parents followed the tiny white coffin down the aisle of the Church, the young husband supporting his grieving bride. Hundreds of people filled the Church, including the teams of doctors both locally and from BCH, who had ministered to the child and his parents. Towards the end of the Mass, a relative stepped forward to read a letter written by the parents to their first born son. In it, they committed to preserving his memory forever, especially to any future siblings. The Mass concluded with the organist playing a plaintiff version of Brahm's lullabye.
Just days short of the first anniversary of Michael David's death, the parents welcomed into the world his brother, Daniel David. On the first anniversary of Michael David's death, the parents, grandparent and family from around the US gathered in church to remember Michael David. And here in our midst was their new son, Daniel David.
God acts in extraordinary ways to teach us lessons about life. Each life is unique, precious and priceless. We must never abandon hope, regardless of the cost of this care. I know of another couple whose child was prematurely born and now struggles through life but she succeeds! Ask anyone of these families if they would have aborted or insisted on the removal of life support for their children and the answer would be an unequivacal 'no'. Life is precious from conception until natural death. It is not up to us to interfere, but to learn from it.