Posted on 02/22/2007 4:27:05 PM PST by wagglebee
FLORIDA, United States, February 22, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The survival of pre-term baby Amillia Taylor, at 21 weeks gestation the youngest know child to survive premature birth, has produced an increase in media debate on the abortion issue.
Mainstream media outlets in the United States have acknowledged that the babys life raises big questions about legal abortion, . Weighing less than 10oz and just nine ½ inches long, Amillia was born one month earlier than the date considered viable for most babies, 25 weeks. About half of the babies born at 25 weeks will survive. Abortion laws are often based on an assumption of viability, with the cut-off being set at the point where babies would be likely to survive outside the womb.
ABC anchor Charles Gibson made the account of Amillias survival the top story on World News Tuesday night, calling the baby, A tiny miracle that raises big questions in the debate over abortion, according to a blog report by Brent Baker posted on NewsBusters.com Feb.20.
The fact that she has survived and grown to more than four pounds, and is about to go home, is a miracle, yes, but a miracle that may have an effect on the debate over abortion. And it may change what people think about life.
Dan Harris, pro-abortion reporter for ABC, pointed out that in most of the country, Amillia could have been legally aborted well past the point of her birth.
Only one state, North Carolina, explicitly prohibits aborting a fetus at the point at which Amillia was born; 12 states permit abortion at that point; 23 states leave it to a doctor to decide whether the fetus is viable; and in 14 states, there are no laws on the books that would prevent such an abortion.
Tony Perkins, with the Family Research Council, was interviewed by ABC for the story. As we see, with the advancement of medical technology, we have children surviving outside the womb younger and younger, Perkins said. It really brings into focus how valuable and how precious this human life really is.
Now weighing a healthy four lbs, Amillia is due to be released from hospital within the next few days. Apart from some respiratory and digestive difficulties, her doctors said she has done remarkably well.
She told us early on from the start that she was a fighter and she wanted to be here, said Dr. William Smalling from the Baptist Childrens Hospital in Kendall, Florida.
Comments posted on Newsbusters pointed out that at 35 weeks from conception, Amillia is still three weeks from her natural birth date and could legally be aborted in many states if she had remained in her mothers womb.
See full coverage posted on NewsBusters.com:
http://newsbusters.org/node/10954
See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:
Non-viable Baby Girl Survives Birth at 21 Weeks, Weighing Under 10oz
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/feb/07022003.html
Please see #104 above ... the trick is to refer to that single fertilized cell as an ORGANISM ... once fertilization occurs there is an ORGANISM.
Perhaps I should clarify. If a baby is sufficiently well-formed that it can be removed from the womb and still survive, even many pro-choice people will have trouble regarding it as anything other than a baby even if they would regard earlier forms of prenatal life as nothing but a "blob of cells".
If the pro-life forces would focus their efforts on protecting those unborn children whom 90% of the public would regard as babies rather than "blobs of cells", that would help create a split between the hard-core abortion advocates and the more moderate middle.
While I wouldn't want pro-life groups to say that the younger unborn children were merely "blobs of cells", I wouldn't suggest that they contest that claim too strenuously right now. Focus instead on improving the status quo.
The extremely vast majority (probably over 90%) of people believe abortion should be legal in at least some cases but should not be totally unrestricted. The only way pro-lifers will be able to protect any unborn children is if they can win the support of a sizable percentage of that group. If they can agree to disagree for the moment about the status of the unborn children who are not yet viable, I think they could win supermajority support for protecting those that clearly are.
One thing I've posted before and will post again: in addition to working on an incremental strategy to roll back abortion, pro-lifers should also put forth another message which isn't purely about abortion, but could pay them enormous dividends:
BTTT
That cannot be repeated too often. "Pro-choice" and right to choose" is rhetoric dreamed up by pro aborts to deflect attention from the dead baby and the injured mother.
Please FReepmail me if you would like to be added to, or removed from, the Pro-Life/Pro-Baby ping list...
Thanks for the ping. I think I already added Duncan Hunter to the keywords, since he is the best pro-life candidate for President.
Thanks for the ping!
That little baby survivied for a reason! G-d bless her.
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