The Consequences of Choice

Italian doctors are desperately trying to save a baby boy who was born alive after an attempted abortion. Doctors had recommended abortion to the mother after discovering what appeared to be a deformed esophagus during the course of two ultrasounds.

The mother agreed to the abortion despite the fact that the defect possibly could have been surgically corrected after birth. It was during the abortion that doctors realized that the baby did not have a defect and indeed was entirely healthy and what began as an abortion turned into a delivery.

Sadly, the baby is not likely to live. He was "delivered" at 22 weeks and during the abortion experienced a brain hemorrhage. Doctors expect that he will die.

Why do we think we have the right to "throw away" babies with disabilities or physical impairments? Why did the doctors recommend an abortion for a condition that could have been corrected? Are we so focused on perfection?