Suppose a mother of three born children plus an unborn child of eight-week's gestation was found to have metasticizing cancer. Doctor's prognosis was that chemo may save her if issued immediately, but it would be unlikely the woman would live six months otherwise.
What course of action would you suggest?
I can see two possible courses of action: forego the chemo and hope to live long enough that the baby can be delivered alive, or take the chemo and hope to avoid leaving her three born children motherless, recognizing that the chemo would certainly kill the unborn child.
In such a situation, I don't think I could fault the mother for making either choice.
Personally, I'd take my chances and let the baby live and leave that decision up to God. I don't think it's our place to decide which human life should be snuffed and which should be saved. Those three children could also be deprived of their mother if the mother got into a car accident or something similar. Taking a child's life is never acceptable.
No way I'd kill my child to save my own life, and I could never respect... heck I could never stomach being in the same room with a woman who could do that.
An Italian doctor (woman) made the choice to forgo treatment and give life to her unborn baby. She was recently proclaimed a "Blessed" in the Catholic Church.
My husband's best friend's mother was in exactly this position when she was pregnant with him. She chose to have him and not treat the cancer. She did die when he was almost a year old, not of cancer, though (her 'hopeless' cancer went into remission), she was murdered by the son of a diplomat who had immunity.
Wow, I want to answer that one. First of all your scenario states that the chemo MAY save her if issued immediately, that leaves the possibility that it may not save her. If the prognosis was that she would not live more than six months without chemo then chemotherapy would most likely only postpone the inevitable. Under those circumstances I would much rather continue the pregnancy in hopes that my child would live; but if unable, then I would want my unborn child to die within my womb, rather than ripped out and dismembered and we be buried together unseparated.