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Dr. Stella is one of four remaining doctors in the US who openly perform third trimester abortions. In the documentary After Tiller <\/em>she is very clear that abortion results in the death of a pre-born child. Funeral arrangements are shown, how to tell your family is discussed, and Dr. Stella has no issue using the term \u201cbaby.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet she defends what she does in cases of fetal abnormality, explaining \u201cI recognize what I do. And at times I struggle and at times I don\u2019t. But I always come back to the woman and what she\u2019s going through. And often what life will this baby have? What will it mean to be alive with horrific fetal abnormalities<\/em><\/strong>?\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Stella\u2019s concern for what the woman is going through and what kind of life the child will have are both weighty considerations.<\/p>\n I can only imagine the emotional turmoil caused by those dreaded words: \u201cI am so sorry. There is something wrong with the baby.\u201d Sarah Williams describes in Perfectly Human<\/em><\/a> her experience when her third daughter, Cerian, was diagnosed with thanatophoric dysplasia \u2013 a lethal skeletal deformity. Cerian\u2019s chest was too small to sustain the proper development of the lungs, meaning she likely would be unable to breathe after birth.<\/p>\n Within an hour of delivering this devastating news at an ultrasound appointment, the consultant was suggesting dates for termination seemingly as an obvious next step. In the United Kingdom, where Sarah lived, there is a gestational limit on abortion of 24 weeks, but she learned there was no such limit for Cerian because she had a fetal abnormality.<\/p>\n Fetal abnormalities can be serious, like in Cerian\u2019s case, but the exception in the UK law has also been used for treatable conditions like cleft palate<\/a>. The exception also includes those with Down syndrome.\u00a0 Abortion because of Down syndrome gained international notoriety after Iceland claimed in 2017 that they had eradicated Down syndrome \u2013 not by eliminating the condition, but by eliminating the people<\/em> with the condition. One woman in Canada was even told that abortion was the only cure for Down syndrome<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fetal abnormalities generally, and Down syndrome specifically, have gone from an exception in abortion laws to an expectation of abortion.<\/strong><\/p>\n In the state of shock and grief resulting from an unexpected diagnosis, parents talk of the struggle to see their child as a person rather than a condition. The pressure from trusted medical professionals only adds to their burden. When Dr. Stella talks about being concerned about the women, is she concerned about what information was given along with the diagnosis or whether she was pressured to terminate? Does Dr. Stella ever tell a woman that she could continue her pregnancy and find the strength and support to raise a child with a disability?<\/p>\n It is not just the parents that Dr. Stella is concerned about, but also \u201cwhat will it mean to be alive with horrific fetal abnormalities?\u201d Disabilities or genetic conditions unquestionably come with challenges. While many with Down syndrome live healthy, well-rounded lives, others face significant health and developmental challenges. Do challenges, pain, or suffering justify Dr. Stella\u2019s position?<\/p>\n The reality is Dr. Stella does not know what life will be like for any given child. Sarah\u2019s husband, Paul, was told that the statistical chances that his daughter would live with thanatophoric dysplasia was 1%. After questioning further, Paul discovered that statistic was based on a study of only 35 cases. Furthermore, of those 35 cases, 22 of them were terminated<\/em><\/strong>. We do not know what the lives of those 22 aborted children would be like.<\/p>\nWhat is the woman going through?<\/u><\/h4>\n
What life will this baby have?<\/u><\/h4>\n