On the morning of July 7, 2022 my daughter, Elizabeth, sent my family an article, "I had an abortion 15 years ago. Now I’m fighting the Georgia state house for your rights," by Shea Roberts.
It’s about a mom who had an abortion because her baby had Trisomy 18.
The unanimous response from my family was tears followed by justifiable anger.
The reason is because my daughter, my children’s sister, whose name is Bella, has full Trisomy 18. She is now 14 years old and lives an extremely fulfilling, beautiful, and joyful life!
My heart aches for Shea and her family. I’m so sorry for their loss.
The reason for my family’s tears was that Shea and her family were denied the happiness their child would have brought them and the priceless things their child would have taught them — some of the most important things in life.
The reason for the justifiable anger was that Shea’s family was lied to — by their physicians, and by a society that devalues the dignity of every human life.
Both late term abortions and childbirth come with similar risk to the mother’s health, but only one always results in the death of a child. What pediatrician would say to a mother of a four-month-old "your child has little chance of survival so I recommend killing her?"
No, they would advocate for appropriate care for as long as the child lives.
Gold standard physicians would make the same recommendation for a four-month-old child in the womb. They also would have read current medical literature about Trisomy 18 and learned some children don’t have the dismal outcomes that the so-called experts claim.
True professionals know that phrases like "incompatible with life" and "lethal diagnosis" lead to self-filling deadly outcomes.
Gold standard physicians do not write off a child due to a diagnosis; rather, they seek to know the truth and all the details about their patient.
Gold standard physicians long for knowledge, and provide specific treatment plans according to the issues that a patient has.
Like any other medical diagnosis, Trisomy 18 carries with it different issues.
Every Trisomy 18 child is unique and may or may not share the same medical challenges.
I know this for a fact because there are so many families like mine out there who are raising children with Trisomy 18. The old outdated medical books and inept physicians like to claim there are no survivors with this condition, but thankfully families on social media have proved them wrong.
When I was working as a neonatal intensive care nurse, the care that was delivered in the NICU was incredibly impressive.
That was a long time ago, and neonatal and pediatric critical care have dramatically increased since then. The medical technology and pharmaceuticals that are available today, as well as exceptional physicians and nurses who deliver the care, are truly remarkable.
Ideal physicians will not play Lord of life and death abandoning their patients.
They know their task is to love and care for those who suffer and allow them to live out their own personal life stories. They are the gold standard of the medical profession.
All the others should seek other occupations, because their lack of knowledge and lack of ethics has dire consequences.
When my daughter Bella was just a couple of months old, I will never forget one of her doctors at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia saying, "Just give her a chance. How will we know what these kids capable of if we don’t give them a chance? Bella will write her own book, and I hope it’s a good one."
Fourteen years later, Bella smiles with delight as we take her to the pool and for bike rides around our neighborhood. Bella has even written her own book, and it's a good one.
We are profoundly grateful for her awe-inspiring life, and we are equally profoundly grateful for the gold standard physicians who have taken exceptional care of her through the years.
Bella is the heartbeat of our family and loved beyond words.
Her life has become an unspoken voice for a community desperate to be heard.
It is this humanity that Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) ignored: the fundamental truth that all children are made in God’s image, regardless of the circumstances of conception or condition upon birth.
I’m so sorry, Shea, for your loss and the loss to your entire family. I truly am.
Karen Santorum is the wife of Rick Santorum, who is a Newsmax contributor, and a former United States senator from Pennsylvania.
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