Article Review – We Treat Babies Before They’re Born, so Why Aren’t They Protected Persons?
We treat babies before they’re born, so why aren’t they protected persons?, William Lile, January 24, 2019, as viewed at https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/ob-gyn-doctor-we-treat-babies-before-theyre-born-so-why-arent-they-protecte
This article gave me a doctor’s perspective on gestational surgeries and procedures. I was surprised at the variety of procedures that can be done on fetuses and at how young these patients are when they are receiving treatment. I hope these quotes will inspire you to read the full article.
“Using ultrasound guidance, a long, thin needle is guided through the abdominal wall of the mother, through the wall of the womb, and directly into the vein of the umbilical cord.. . . We have performed this procedure as early as 19 weeks gestation at our hospital.”
“Fetal surgery in the womb is now becoming common in centers in Boston, Philadelphia, Denver, Houston and Cleveland. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) performs over 150 fetal procedures each year. Heart surgeries on babies in the womb are being performed as early as 21 weeks gestation. Heart valve surgery and atrial septal interventions are being performed on fetal hearts the size of a large grape. Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston is now performing laparoscopic corrective spina bifida surgery before 23 weeks gestation.”
“This is a key concept: the baby in the womb is a patient.”
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“. . . If we are performing heart surgery, spine surgery and giving blood transfusions to the pre-born while still in the womb, they are patients. And if they are patients, they have a ‘moral right to bodily integrity.’ Abortion deprives a patient of their ‘moral right to bodily integrity.’” [Read Involuntary Organ and Tissue Donors.]
“The babies in the womb are clearly patients. If they are patients, they are persons, and if they are persons, they deserve our protection.” Read The Importance of Validation and Book Review_Miscarriage Women Sharing From The Heart.]
“I like to say that ‘a patient is a person, no matter how small.’”
“In the Roe vs Wade majority opinion written by Justice Harry Blackmun, he stated that if ‘personhood is established, the case for a constitutional right to abortion collapses, for the fetus’ right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the (Fourteenth) Amendment.’ The Pre-Born are clearly patients, and if they are patients they are persons, and if they are persons, we have a moral and Constitutional duty to protect them.”