Reply #54: The majority of maternal health issues do not render her incapable of caring for her child...

[colinmom71]

Provided that her health issues are addressed and managed properly by her personal physician.

Severe fetal health defects are the primary reason abortions are performed past 18 weeks until 24 weeks. In other words, the pregnancy is ended before the fetus is even viable (able to live outside the womb). The fetus usually doesn't have a chance to live anyway in these situations, even if the pregnancy were carried to term.

Physicians who present an ID&X as an option are doing so because the pregnant woman's health will withstand fewer risks of foreseeable complications to pre-existing health problems where it has already been decided to terminate the pre-viability pregnancy. A large part of protecting maternal health in these situations is to reduce the potential for damage to the female's reproductive system as is possible, such as damage to the uterus and cervix which can have lasting effects upon her ability to carry future pregnancies. It's not just a matter of avoiding imminent health threats such as bleeding complications. It is also a matter of protecting the woman's long term health and reproductive function. Unless you somehow believe that a woman who opts to terminate a pregnancy for fetal health issues also deserves to lose her future childbearing ability? Somehow, you don't strike me as that vindictive or narrow-minded.

As for whether there is a shortage of people willing to adopt newborns... Well, there's not a shortage of those wanting to adopt HEALTHY newborns. Unfortunately, a lot of these fetuses in these situations are not at all healthy. In fact, most would not even survive to term and/or delivery. Those unhealthy babies who do survive are not considered very "adoptable" by anxious prospective adoptive parents. Look up any local or state level foster system and you'll see numerous babies with chronic health problems who remain unadopted and even unfostered.

When my son was in the NICU 11 years ago, the nurses once told me about a sweet little girl who lived in the pediatric ward after her own stay in the NICU for a year or so. She was 5 years old by that time and had never lived outside the hospital walls. Her parents had abandoned her once it became clear she was not going to ever be a healthy and typically abled child. They had never managed to find a qualified and willing foster home to suit her medical needs, so she lived in the hospital. So no, there is not a shortage of adoptive homes for kids with these extreme medical needs...

I have to admit it is my own personal issues that compel me to defend abortions that help optimize a woman's future reproductive health where the pregnancy is already essentially doomed. My son's premature birth was rife with complications and essentially left me unable to have any more children (high risk of uterine rupture, incompetent cervix, etc.). It's been a long hard road of depression and heartbreak to accepting the fact that I will never have a child from whom I will hear the words "I love you mommy" or "Watch this!"... My son is severely and permanently disabled from his premature birth. I love him dearly and am very grateful he's alive, but it came at a high cost after the fact. A cost I truly feel that every woman has a right to defend herself and her family from experiencing....