Why We Shouldn't Abort Babies That Are Going to Die

In an article titled “Twenty
reasons to think twice about aborting a baby with anencephaly,” Peter
Saunders tells the story of how his thinking was jarred out of the usual view
of this common practice:

Before I qualified as a doctor I
probably would have taken the generally expressed view [of support for aborting
a child with a fatal abnormality], but an experience I had as a junior doctor
dramatically changed my attitudes both to disability and abortion….

The administrative clerk on the
medical ward where I was working was heavily pregnant and I asked her when she
was due. She gave me the date and before I could say anything else said, ‘my
baby has anencephaly’. While I was inwardly asking why she had not had an
abortion, she added, ‘I could not bring myself to end the life of my own baby’.

The baby was born a few weeks later
and survived about a week. She held it, nursed and cared for it and said her
goodbyes before its inevitable death.

Up until that point I had not
contemplated that such an approach was even possible. She not only demonstrated
that it was but taught me a huge lesson about courage, compassion and how to
face and handle tragedy, grief and bereavement. I have never forgotten it and
resolved then, that if I was ever in the same situation I would want to do the
same.

Saunders offers twenty concise and compelling reasons why we
should not end the lives of children with anencephaly. For example: 

A baby with anencephaly is a
dependent relative
Babies with anencephaly are profoundly
dependent but are also biologically related to their parents and carry their
genes. They are therefore dependent relatives and so should I believe be
treated with the same love and respect as any other dependent and dying close
relative.

Here are all twenty reasons (please see the article
for a brief explanation of each):

A baby
with anencephaly is a human being
A baby
with anencephaly is not brain dead
A baby
with anencephaly is a dependent relative
A baby
with anencephaly is a disabled person
Palliative
care is the best response to terminal illness 
We
should not be making judgments about the worth of other people  
Abortion
for anencephaly is discriminatory 
Abortion
for anencephaly is often a coercive offer 
Abortion
for anencephaly is contrary to every historic ethical code  
Abortion for anencephaly exchanges one
problem for a whole set of different problems 
Saying goodbye properly is important for
resolving grief and achieving closure
Abortion for anencephaly can be profoundly
damaging to a mother’s mental health 
Pregnancy is the most intimate form of
hospitality
There are real dangers of incremental
extension once we embark down this route
Deformity does not define us
Easing our own pain is not sufficient reason
for ending another person’s life
Anencephaly forces us to acknowledge and face
our deepest prejudices
Major life decisions should not be made at a
time of crisis
We should not allow ourselves to be
manipulated by the media or those with an agenda 
Death is not the end

Most of these reasons to not abort don’t just apply to babies with
fatal abnormalities, they also apply to any baby with a disability. If you’re
terrified by the knowledge that your baby is going to be born with a
disability, I urge you to read carefully through the explanations of each of
these reasons given in the article.

And consider, also, who God is, who we are, and why
we’re here. There are many sufferings we endure in this life, but God does
not permit even one instance of suffering for which He doesn’t have a
purpose. Just as Jesus revealed God’s glory and grace to us through His
suffering, so our own suffering can reveal God’s greatness and grace to us and
to others. And that, after all, is what we are here on this earth to do.

If you’re not sure how God could be glorified through your having
a child with disabilities, read Wrestling
with an Angel: A Story of Love, Disability and the Lessons of Grace by Greg
Lucas. And if you need some encouragement, try these lectures from Desiring
God’s recent conference, “The
Works of God: God’s Good Design in Disability.”

Let our view of human beings, disabilities, and suffering
not be the same as the world’s.

(HT: @JoshBrahm)