Opinion Piece Examines Support Services For Women Who 'Refuse To Abort' Fetuses With Genetic Defects

Pregnant women whose fetuses are diagnosed with a "defect" often are told by a "small army of doctors and genetics counselors" that they should "[e]nd the pregnancy and get one of those horrendous second or third-trimester abortions, where the child perches on the edge of viability," Washington Times columnist Julia Duin writes in an opinion piece.

Duin adds that she recently has "become aware of a network of Catholics who are fighting such dire diagnoses with Web sites and support groups." Duin examines the experiences of several families who were advised to abort fetuses that were diagnosed with defects. She writes that in 1988, Anna Lise LaHood and her husband, Dan LaHood, chose not to abort a fetus diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease after a Catholic priest advised them that "even the birth of a stillborn child has meaning." Duin adds that the LaHoods decided that "while their son may die, it would not be at their hands." The LaHoods' son died shortly after birth, according to Duin.

According to Duin, Anna Lise LaHood in 1997 founded Isaiah's Promise, a Chicago-based Web site that "offers a stunning amount of resources for women who refuse to abort" with another woman whose daughter died 10 minutes after birth from the "fatal birth defect" Trisomy 18. In addition, the LaHoods work with the group Missionaries of Charity, which was founded by Mother Teresa, and operate a program that provides "respite and day care for severely handicapped children," Duin writes (Duin, Washington Times, 3/12).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.