Susan died after giving birth to their second child, Susan Anne Catherine, who was born premature after Susan had been declared to be "brain dead", and who also died five weeks later. ....
As Susan's story became known, we began hearing from the families of other women who were suffering through their own pregnancy related health crises. There were mothers carrying their children who were diagnosed with cancer, and if they received treatment, their unborn babies' lives would be threatened. Other women were being told that, unless they terminated their pregnancies, their own health might be threatened, or that of their child's.
Their personal pain and suffering - the agony of being confronted with a life and death health crisis during the time when they anticipated the gift of life, was deeply moving, not only to us, but countless others who wanted to help.
After completing the first objectives of the fund - to absorb the enormous costs of caring for Susan and her unborn child, establishing an educational fund for their surviving child, and supporting maternal cancer research - Faith and Action determined to continue the work of the fund with a renewed mandate: to provide information and education to women experiencing pregnancy related health crises.
Faith and Action and the National Pro-Life Action Center became full partners with researchers and medical practitioners working in the field of pregnancy and abortion related cancers, prenatal diagnoses and women's reproductive health issues.
A new fund, called Gianna's Fund, in memory of the Italian physician St. Gianna Beretta Molla, who chose to give her unborn baby life and decline cancer treatment for herself, will continue the work begun with the Susan Torres Fund. A national educational campaign is being conducted helping women to learn about maternal health, avoidable risks to their and their unborn children's' health, and the correlation between reproductive health and cancer.
Now is a good time to review Protecting Yourself and Your Unborn Child. Here is the abridged version:
Abortion advocacy efforts have created a climate in which many doctors feel safest recommending abortion at the first sign of trouble. This leads to avoidable abortions, and women left traumatized or even dead. How can a mother avoid becoming one of these women? There are several steps you can take to protect yourself and your unborn child.
1. Know your doctor. When choosing a medical professional for your prenatal care, ask her about her handling of maternal or fetal problems. Ask other women in your community about their experiences with various doctors. Especially speak to women who are active in the pro life community. They will be the most likely to be aware of which doctors resort readily to abortion and which treat the unborn child as a second patient. Your local or state pro life organizations will be glad to talk to you. Pregnancy help centers or CPC's (Crisis Pregnancy Centers) also tend to be very knowledgable about local doctors' attitudes toward abortion. Choose a professional who has a good reputation among pro life women, and with whom you have a good rapport.
2. Educate yourself. Start by asking your doctor for clarification. Women have been advised to abort and have, numbly or in a panic, followed their doctors' instructions only to find out afterward that abortion was recommended for a questionable reason. Look elsewhere for information about your condition. The internet has excellent sites with information about options for high-risk pregnancies. You can also visit a university or medical school library and do some research on your condition, or the condition diagnosed for your unborn baby. Armed with this information, you can seek a doctor who is familiar with the latest treament for your condition, or can open your doctor's eyes to options he might not have thought about.
3. Get a second opinion. Even a doctor with a reputation for being pro life might not be fully aware of every option available to you. Even a doctor who is up to date on the latest treatments might be litigation-shy and lean toward abortion. If you are told that your situation is a medical emergency, you can choose to be admitted to the hospital through the emergency room and in that way get the opinion of an emergency physician without any unnecessary delay in seeking treatment.
4. If you are advised to abort because of fetal indications, arrange in advance for an autopsy for your baby. If parents start routinely verifying unfavorable diagnoses after abortions, doctors will start to see that they are risking a lawsuit by recommending unnecessary abortions.
5. If you are facing the choice between abortion and unwanted, intrusive care for a dying infant, contact your local prolife group. If you are feeling trapped into any unwanted abortion, your local prolife groups will help you with whatever you need. They will not consider it at all acceptable for you to be forced into an abortion because it is your only alternative to watching your baby be tormented with painful, futile care.
What can prolifers do for women facing a health crisis during pregnancy? Here's the abridged version:
1. Remember that this is not an easy choice. When a woman's life is endangered by a pregnancy, it is common for other people to believe that the choice is easy. The doctor prescribes an abortion, the woman has the abortion, and everything goes on as before, right? Wrong. Sadly, abortion advocates' insistence that abortion is a regret-free experience has done a lot to hide the pain of women who lose their unborn children because of medical problems.
2. Be ready to offer real help. Some medical conditions aren't black-and-white. The mother can try to continue the pregnancy long enough to save the baby's life. Your local pro life groups need to do outreach to high-risk pregnancy specialists. Let them know that if a woman is struggling with issues such as medical expenses, child care, and other practical aspects of trying to bring her child into the world, you are there to help. Be prepared to do fund-raisers for experimental procedures not covered by insurance. Be a visible presence ready to help women struggling to save their babies. Strangely enough, although people know that pro lifers are ready to help women who are considering abortion, most people don't realize that our help is available to any woman who needs help to give birth to her baby.
3. Promote research and support. Abortion advocates pester insurance carriers to cover abortion. We need to be urging insurance companies to cover the expenses related to continuing a risky pregnancy. Pro life doctors, nurses, and other professionals need to help develop cost-effective ways of providing nursing care and support to ailing mothers and babies. Communities need to be supportive of these efforts.
More on maternal health, pregnancy, and abortion:
- Beware of Maternal and Fetal Indications
- Don't Like Abortions? Don't Have One!
- Unwanted Abortion of a Wanted Child
- Abortion Turns Miracle into Double Tragedy
- Anjelica Duarte
- Barbara Hoppert
- Erika Peterson
- "Molly" Roe
- Abortion to Save the Mother?
- Mini-Miracle
For anybody still doubting that we owe it to ailing women to help them avoid abortions, read Our Shooting Star, and Ashli's continued anguish even years after her abortion. And for an idea of how intense a struggle such a woman is willing to go through, if only people will stand by her, read Ashli's HG diary, recounting how she was able to bring another child to life.
It's a lot more work to help a woman save her baby than it is to help a woman abort her baby. If you're tempted to think that it's okay to just allow legal abortion and turn away, think of Ashli.
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