re: #169 SixDegrees

Charles -

With all due respect, don’t go there.

Six months into our first pregnancy, my wife and I learned that our son was horribly malformed, and would require several major surgeries immediately after birth simply to survive, and would be faced with years of additional surgeries if he lived. At best, he would be a severe cripple at the end of it all.

Our decision, which wasn’t rendered lightly and only after consulting with a half-dozen surgical specialists, was to go ahead with the birth.

He died in the womb a couple of weeks afterward.

All of the doctors we spoke with were very clear that they would support our decision no matter what it was - and this came from people who knew full well what the chances of success were (extremely low) and the amount of suffering the child would certainly undergo (a lot, at best). Not a single one of them suggested that death was preferable, although none were at all sanguine about his prospects.

Thousands of people every year are faced with similar circumstances, and thousands of them make the same choice we did. They aren’t evil, and frankly, you aren’t qualified to pass such judgment.

I don’t believe that was Charles’ intent, to pass judgment.

What you decide what is right for you is intimate and personal. That is far different from taking what is an intimate and personal decision- and right- and advocating one way or another to support an agenda. I believe that was Charles’ point- to protect those who might choose differently than you.

I don’t take your decision lightly or for granted. My personal experience with abortion has left it’s mark.