We have heard today about radicals who want to allow any third-trimester abortion, their primary justification for this barbarism being the argument that when a baby is sick or imperfect, it’s best just to kill it.

These “nonviable pregnancies” and “fetal abnormalities” aren’t always serious, with some claiming that even Down syndrome babies should be considered “incompatible with life.”  Killing the sick is never a treatment for the sickness!  And abortion is always infanticide.

The proper medical intervention even in the case of a fatal diagnosis for an unborn baby is not murder, but Perinatal Hospice, where the womb is treated like a hospice for the unborn baby.  That child is LOVED; cherished for the short time a family is given to be with him or her, and given palliative care like any other hospice situation. What a contrast to our governor’s strategy, treating the sick child like property whose value is left up to discussion.  The denial of that child’s life, however short, is not compassionate to the dignity of mother or baby.  In fact when mothers are presented with support and the option of perinatal hospice, studies show that up to 85% of women desire to continue their pregnancies!  Because mothers want to be with their sick children through to the end.

I know the story of two sisters – who both passed down to their unborn children a genetic abnormality.  One chose abortion.  The other chose perinatal hospice, where her baby was treated like a human, loved, held, and died naturally.  Later, the woman who had chosen abortion regretted her decision and came back to her sister and said, “You have a treasured family memory; I have a secret to keep.”

Doctors who abort sick babies limit the opportunity for true healing to come to the mother and family.  But they also snuff out the opportunity for a miracle, like the story of our board chairman Kathy Doherty, who was given a poor perinatal diagnosis for her unborn daughter. Like with any of the patients in Tepeyac OB/GYN’s Kristen Anderson Perinatal Hospice Program, Kathy was given extra time at her sonogram, extra resources, and a teddy bear holding the recorded heartbeat of her baby to keep even after her little daughter Maggie’s heart stopped beating.  But 5 years later, Maggie’s heart is still beating, and she is a thriving, happy little girl!

Even pro-life doctors are stuck in secular practices across the nation being pressured to perform abortions on these babies, and this has to stop.   I encourage you to support groups like Be Not Afraid, and Prenatal Partners for Life.  It’s time for the pro-life movement to consider medicine and perinatal hospice as fundamental tenants of our cause. Because we honor every single life.  Thank you.