In what provides very chilling reading, the Times (U.K.) reports on a new study by the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health which deals with babies who survive abortion -- perhaps 5o a year. The article suggests that the greatest concerns of doctors and health officials are not appropriate care of preborn children, nor are they anything else that relates to morality, character, or quality health care standards. Oh no; the concerns are litigation and that...well, unpleasantness of dealing with the bodies of aborted babies.
Note, for instance, what the article says about the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. This group, which regulates methods of abortion in the U.K. (and so is rather miffed at the implications of this new report), argues that the problem of live births could be avoided if doctors simply paid closer attention to the Society's abortion directions.
Its guidelines say that babies aborted after more than 21 weeks and six days of gestation should have their hearts stopped by an injection of potassium chloride before being delivered. In practice, few doctors are willing or able to perform the delicate procedure.
For the abortion of younger foetuses, labour is induced by drugs in the expectation that the infant will not survive the birth process. Guidelines say that doctors should ensure that the drugs they use prevent such babies being alive at birth.
Putting aside the issue of the Times' reporter describing the injection of a vile poison into the heart of a living baby as simply a "delicate procedure", the arrogant barbarism of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists should, by any standards of decency, be denounced and opposed.
The article concludes with an announcement that just such opposition to the anti-life attitude of the RCOG is increasing, including an upcoming visit to Parliament by an old friend of Vital Signs Ministries.
The issue will be highlighted by Gianna Jessen, 28, who survived an attempt to abort her. She is to speak at a parliamentary meeting on December 6 organised by the Alive and Kicking campaign, which is lobbying for a reduction of the abortion limit to 18 weeks.
Jessen, a musician from Nashville, Tennessee, was left with cerebral palsy but is to run in the London marathon next April to raise funds for fellow sufferers.
“If abortion is about women’s rights, then what were my rights?” she asked.
“If people are going to talk about abortion, then it’s important for them to know that these are babies that can be born alive and survive.”
Of course, if there's absolutely no conscience left in the RCOG, Gianna's example could merely cause the organization to push all the harder for "more effective termination" policies before birth. After all, the troubling presence of other Giannas could be avoided altogether -- if only the abortions were more thoroughly performed in the first place.
God, give eloquence and power to Your faithful servant, Gianna Jesson, and to all others who are serving You by speaking out against the horror of abortion -- any abortion -- in the United Kingdom. Let Your Spirit enlighten the members of Parliament, the press, and the British public with their message of compassion and justice for the unborn.
And, dear Father, please break the stone-cold hearts of those leading the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and let them return to the virtues of caring and healing that once marked their organization.