Grand Island Case Raises Questions

Details: 18 March 2011

Last week, newspapers reported about a Grand Island couple’s pregnancy gone awry and tragic death of their premature child after birth. According to these reports, Danielle Deaver was 22-23 weeks pregnant when she lost most of the amniotic fluid surrounding her unborn child. Her doctors said the condition would arrest the baby’s development, leading to deformities and a slim chance of survival.

The Omaha World-Herald said the couple decided that they "didn’t want to continue putting their unborn baby through what they feared was agony, so they asked the doctors to induce labor early." Inducing labor prior to viability, with the intent that it end the baby’s life, is an abortion.

Consequently, the couple was told that Nebraska’s new abortion law stood in their way. That law, LB 1103, was enacted last year and prohibits abortions after 20 weeks from fertilization, unless it’s necessary to avert the mother’s death. This point was chosen because of strong evidence that an unborn child can feel pain by this stage of development.

The World-Herald story said the couple went public with their story "in the hope of making a difference for other families in similar situations." They are urging law makers in other states to consider their situation before enacting laws similar to LB 1103 and "have not decided whether to mount a legal challenge to the Nebraska law."

In a March 14 editorial in the World-Herald, Dr. Sean Kenney, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist from Lincoln replied to this couple’s situation as presented by the newspaper.

"Although my heart goes out to the Deavers, as a Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist who has cared for several patients in similar situations and who testified on behalf of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Act, I think it is imperative to make clear that their understanding of the facts is wrong."

"What most specialists try to do in these situations is maintain the pregnancy for as long as possible," Dr. Kenney said. "If she had delivered two days later at 24 weeks, the baby’s chance of survival without profound neurodevelopmental impairment would have increased to 50%, 65% if she had received steroids."

The Deaver’s baby weighed about 740 grams at birth (1 lb, 10 oz). Dr. Kenney said that the "edge of viability is usually felt to be around 400-500 grams. Based on an estimated gestational age of 23 weeks, female infant and 740gms, the National Institute of Child Health and Development …would quote her a 37% chance of survival without profound neurodevelopmental impairment, based on data prior to 2003."

"Tragic as the outcome was," Dr. Kenney continued, "the pessimism that predicted inevitable death for the baby was certainly unwarranted." Unfortunately, some doctors are quick to suggest and even urge mothers like Mrs. Deaver to abort their child instead of letting nature take its course or trying to maintain the pregnancy long enough to increase the baby’s chance of survival.

The mentality underlying the recommendation to abort babies with lethal anomalies is eerily similar to the mentality underlying euthanasia (i.e. it is more humane to deliberately end someone’s life than to let them suffer). Fortunately, as with born humans, unborn babies with life-threatening conditions need not be subjected to a choice between a life of pain and intentional death.

There is a growing utilization of perinatal hospice care which applies the hospice model to unborn babies with fatal anomalies. I’m aware of two such programs in Nebraska (Methodist Hospital in Omaha and St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Lincoln) but there may be more. More information on this beautiful service can be seen online at www.perinatalhospice.org.

There are also support groups like Isaiah’s Promise (www.isaiahspromise.net), sponsored by mothers who chose not to abort babies with disabilities. Nancy Mayer-Whittington, a co-founder of Isaiah’s Promise shares these beautiful words about her experience:

"I was so happy I did what I did," she says of her decision to bring Angela to term. "You get to see your child’s birth and death all collapsed in one time frame. What most people want for their kids is for them to go to heaven. You get to complete that journey with them. As a parent, that is unbelievable. Life is about relationship to God. You know that when you literally pass them from your hands to His."

You can contact Greg at The Nebraska Catholic Conference, 215 Centennial Mall South Suite 310, Lincoln, NE 68508; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.