For the second time in a week or so I have to correct myself. Perhaps it was because of only a cursory examination of the facts that I didn't realize that chances of ectopic pregnancies resulting in live births are extremely rare. Maybe I saw what I wanted to see.
Regardless, after extensive research it has become obvious to me that ectopic births are rare. A babyworld article describes it as rare as "one in 60 million.
It is sad to know that there is a condition like this out there. Do we force 60 million women to die so that one child may live? For those of you who have to deal with this issue I will have to concede that it is for you & God to figure out.
I won't remove this post. 1) It will serve as an important reminder to me and hopefully others as well to do more extensive research on topics that are more than just opinion. 2) There are many points in it that are still valid, such as those on rape, incest, health of the mother & life of the mother.
A doctor should always make every attempt to save the child and the mother.
------
Article
What does it mean to be 100% Pro-Life? This is where we will be branded extremists because people will say we are cruel and inhuman by not supporting their view.
This has to be the most difficult question that could be asked. I used to think that there were plenty of exceptions that might be considered. Exceptions like rape, incest, health of the mother and finally, life of the mother. The last one is the one that has been a struggle with me up to now. Let's examine these exceptions:
Rape & incest - If women have abortions because of these:
1) The girl/woman will most likely be psychologically damaged by killing her offspring.
2) Abortion is the killing of a human being. Why should the human inside the womb be executed for a crime that he/she didn't commit?
Health of the mother - This excuse is one of the biggest for those who want to keep abortion legal. They say that the health of the mother should be considered and that abortion should be available just in case there are "health" issues. This one is the biggest ruse in the abortion industry and it keeps the door of abortion wide open. Abortion isn't healthy for either the mother to be, or the child in the womb.
Statistics show that women who have abortions are more likely to suffer from psychological problems years after they have one. That isn't the point though. The point is that we shouldn't teach our children or our population that abortion is acceptable. If we do, we desensitize our population.
Not long ago, the Germans were cruel and brutal to Jews, gypsies, blacks & other undesirables of the day. The population became disconnected from the violence and even turned in those who were not wanted. Not long ago, countries around the world had slaves and treated certain people as property. America wasn't the only country to participate, & some countries to this day still practice slavery.
Finally, ectopic pregnancies - What is that? Krista has a site that provides lots of information on this topic.
Ectopic pregnancies do not all wind up in death for the child or the mother. Many can and do survive.
JivinJehoshaphat points out that it is difficult to diagnose. Many deaths or severe complications due to ectopic pregnancies stem from this problem.
So does this mean that we should allow abortions when there is a risk of death for the mother? Let me ask you this one simple question:
When is it acceptable to kill your child?
If you have 10 children and they all need their mother and she has an ectopic pregnancy which might result in her death, what do you do? You might argue that those children need their mother right? It could be impossible for the father to raise them without her.
There was a scene in a Star Trek movie that I have thought of over & over through the years. It is when Spock saved the crew by shutting down a system that would have killed them all. As he was lying there dying from radiation exposure he said "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few". That may be true with it comes to voluntarily sacrificing your life to save others, but can it be true when you are the one killing some people to save other people?
Anyone who is really Pro-Life knows we are human beings from the moment of conception. So when is it acceptable for you to kill your child? If you kill your child in the womb at any point in life, you are falling into the death spiral. You have decided that abortion truly is a "choice", one that is acceptable when the circumstances in your life allow it. You will never be able to debate the abortion topic with anyone again, because you will know that you made a choice at some point in your life that took the life of another human being.
For those of you who have already made this choice, I'm not condemning you. I hope you will realize the mistake you made and come out to help others avoid it.
If we support bills that allow people to be killed we will be signing the death warrants for thousands of human beings a year. Yes, that's how many ectopic pregnancies there are every year in this country. A doctor is supposed to save lives, not kill them. We need to pressure our medical professionals to figure out how to get around the problems of this type of pregnancy, not give them a free pass to kill people when they don't think they can deal with the problem.
The culture of death has been running this country for 33 years. It's time for us to recognize that killing an innocent human being in the womb is never a good thing.
Let me say this as plainly as possible, ABORTION KILLS HUMAN BEINGS. It's not a get-out-of-pregnancy pass. For you to have that freedom from pain, struggle, financial difficulty or the burden of a lifetime of child care and family, you have to kill a human being.
Women will die from ectopic pregnancies. We will lose mothers and wives. From what I understand, that is the reality of this type of pregnancy. So pressure your medical researchers to save lives, not kill them through procedures like embryonic stem cell research!
Please don't ever think of abortion as a "choice". It never is for the unborn.
Imagine this, your wife & child have fallen off a cliff. Your wife is holding on by a thread and your daughter is holding onto her foot. Your wife might not be able to hold on with the extra weight. Do you:
a) Do everything you can to save them both?
b) Throw stones at your daughter and knock her off in order to save your wife?
Any time you make a "choice", this is exactly what the choice is.
United we stand - Divided they die - Pass it on
To be fair to Catholic Christians, please direct them to http://www.ewtn.com/vexperts/search.asp?source=/vexperts/conference.htm
Once there, select "pro-life" in the 'forum' box and "any expert" in the 'expert' box. Searches can be done as far back as 2003 in the 'Go Back' box. Enter "ectopic" in the keyword box.
This information is important and necessary for Catholic Christians. Please provide. Thank you
Quote:
"Ectopic pregnancies do not all wind up in death for the child or the mother. Many can and do survive."
Where did you get your information that in an ectopic pregnancy 'many can and do survive'????
As a nurse of 33+ years, at least a third of which I worked in OB/GYN/NURSERY, I beg to differ with you. I also worked all of that time in a strongly Catholic Hospital. I can assure you that an ectopic pregnancy is a medical emergency!! Always!
And currently, there is no way to take that child and place it into the uterus from the Fallopian tube or ovary or abdominal cavity where it has begun to grow. None! Outside of the uterus, there is no possibility for the child to survive. Fallopian tubes will RUPTURE as the child grows. They cannot expand enough to allow the child to survive.
From the very website you refered us to comes this statement:
"Sadly, at this time, even a viable ectopic fetus cannot be saved."
The Church RECOGNIZES this fact and it falls under the principle of double effect. The surgical treatment for an ectopic pregnancy is NOT to kill the baby, but to save the mother's life. There is no way at present to save the child, and it is not the intent to kill the child when the surgery is done, but at this time, it simply cannot be helped.
Same with a cancerous uterus. A hysterectomy or chemotherapy at this time is not considered to be an abortion, either. Some women choose to defer treatment. Some cannot defer it. And sometimes, the child does not survive.
The Church does not include an ectopic pregnancy in its ban on abortion, and no one who has ever fallen into a true situation that is life threatening should ever be made to feel guilty with statements that just are not true.
There is no possible way for an ectopic pregnance to survive in this present day.
I refer you to this article, and suggest that you and your readers check it out, esp Catholic readers.
http://www.ewtn.com/library/PROLIFE/EXCEPT.TXT
Exception: To Save the Life of the Mother --by Rev. E. M. Robinson, O.P. The classical example of an ectopic pregnancy or the example of the cancerous uterus, which allow the surgeon, ethically, to remove the woman's damaged reproductive organs in order to save her life, should not be used as examples of abortion, even though a baby's life is terminated in the progress. Rev Robinson looks at these exceptions in light of the principle of double effect.
There are more Q & A's on Ectopic pregnancies here:
http://www.ewtn.com/vexperts/results.asp
Thank you for correcting this. We must all be teachable, and I am grateful that you were gracious enough to let me know of the correction. God bless you.
FWIW,I have known (albeit secondhand) of several people who claim to have been the products of ectopic pregnancies. Although I don't doubt that ectopic pregnancy poses a grave risk to the mother, I don't think it's quite as hopeless as some would have us believe.
And don't many women go undiagnosed until the fallopian tube has burst - and survive? It seems to me that this is when the consistent pro-lifer would take invasive medical action, and not before.
Actually, a few ectopic pregnancies have survived into viability, but they've been flukes.
Though with ectopics being the most common "life of the mother" situation, you'd think that somebody would be coming up with some attempts to save these pregnancies. I, personally, would want to at least try. Though I'd hardly blame anybody else for not wanting to shoot for that one in 60 million chance.
Again, as a nurse, I would have to see the evidence before I took the word of anyone who said that they survived an ectopic pregnancy.
Ectopic pregnancies can be diagnosed long before they get to the rupture point. Once a tube ruptures it is a true medical emergency.
Ectopic pregnancy does not just pose a grave risk to the mother. It is still a leading cause of maternal death. It is a very serious diagnosis.
From Mayo Clinic :
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ectopic-pregnancy/DS00622
An ectopic pregnancy can't proceed normally. The developing embryo can't survive, and the growing placental tissue may destroy important maternal structures. Without treatment, life-threatening blood loss is possible.