Wrongful Birth Suit…Chilling!

Couple Wins Suit, Doc Didn’t Suggest Aborting Baby With Down Syndrome. This is all I had to read of a recent LifeNews.com article to realize I needed to read more.

A couple in the Portland area was awarded $2.9 million in what is being titled a “wrongful birth” case. What is a “wrongful birth” case? Wrongful birth cases are simply that…when parents feel they have the right to sue their doctor for allowing the birth of a child they DID NOT want. In the suit of Ariel and Deborah Levy vs. Legacy Health System, the parents openly stated that had the doctor found the child to have Down syndrome, they would have aborted it.

In court, the Levy's alleged that the doctor failed to supply the proper testing to assure the parents of the chromosomal defect, Down syndrome, in their baby. What the parents suspected is that during the prenatal test, called a chorionic villus sampling, or CVS, the doctor took a maternal sample instead of a fetus sample, resulting in the test coming back negative for abnormal cells.

Here is where it gets interesting. The baby has what is called Mosaic Down syndrome. What this means is that a considerable number of the child’s cells do not contain the extra 21st chromosome, the cause of Down syndrome. So is it possible that the doctor could have taken a proper prenatal test but due to the mosaic Downs that no abnormality could have been detected?

And here is where it gets disturbing. This family, in order to take this case to trial, had to claim that the mother would have chosen to abort her pregnancy had she known her daughter had Down syndrome. Yet, in court, her attorney said his clients deeply love their daughter but worried about being portrayed as heartless. He said they sued because they were worried about all of the possible medical problems and that their child will likely have, yes, I said possible! So which was it? Love...or death? If the family had to do it all over again would they have aborted her? If so, should they still be able to collect $2.9 million? If not, shouldn’t the child be taken away from them since they are willing to openly say they wish her dead? How can they have it both ways? Sickening!

Being the father of a child with Down syndrome (my daughter Liberty to the left), I can tell you that each child with Down syndrome is different. Just like all children, they have needs, wants, likes, dislikes, personality, character, and most of all love. They deserve the same right we do to live…and live with dignity. It is reported that almost 90% of pregnancies of children found to have Down syndrome while still in the womb will be terminated. So only 10% of these incredible children get to face life…the challenges…the ups and downs (no pun intended!)…and the blessings...simply because their “parents” felt they were not worth enough to waste their time on. And somehow our society finds this to be reasonable and normal…I simply don’t understand. Since when did we get to play God and take life as we see fit? I am scared of the future of America if we continue to put ourselves in this place.

All human life is sacred…from conception to birth. Our country has forgotten this. We have replaced respect of life with respect of choice…sanctity with selfish ambition.

Wesley J. Smith of the Daily Caller said it well, ”The time has come to reverse course. We could begin with states prohibiting wrongful birth lawsuits as a matter of public policy. We may have a right to have a baby, but we don’t – or at least shouldn’t – have a right to the baby we want. Most importantly, none of us should ever be declared by a jury to be a wrongful life.”

In Psalms 139 it says:
“You created every part of me; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother’s womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there – you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began.”

I will be on television on April 10th, 9:00PM CST, on Significant Insights. It airs on Total Living Network nationally. To find out more go to www.tln.com or e-mail me at gbogdan@camgroupinc.com.

Check out this incredible video from International Down Syndrome Coalition for Life...CLICK HERE