LIFE DIGEST: Twin defies attempts on his life in womb
- Nov 12, 2007 - 1
The doctors said Gabriel Jones needed to be killed, and his mother grievously agreed. By God’s grace, the unborn boy failed to succumb to the physicians’ lethal efforts.
Gabriel and his twin brother, Ieuan, are now thriving at home in Stoke, England, seven months after their births, according to the Daily Mail, a British newspaper.
Twenty weeks into pregnancy, Mark and Rebecca Jones learned from doctors there were serious health problems with one of their twins: He was half the size of his brother; his heart was three times its normal size, and it appeared he would have a heart attack or stroke while still in the womb.
Doctors urged the Joneses to permit them to end Gabriel’s life in order to protect Ieuan, the Daily Mail reported. The parents agreed. The doctors first sought to cut Gabriel’s umbilical cord at 25 weeks’ gestation, but they were unable to do so because of the cord’s strength. Next, they cut the placenta in two, so Gabriel’s death would not affect Ieuan. Gabriel refused to die, however.
“When I felt him kicking madly the morning after the operation, I suddenly knew that he was going to hang on,” Rebecca Jones said, according to the Daily Mail.
He did. Gabriel survived with his brother for another five weeks, when they both were delivered by cesarean section 31 weeks into the pregnancy. Ieuan weighed 3 pounds, 8 ounces, while Gabriel was only 1 pound, 15 ounces. Now, Ieuan and Gabriel weigh 15 pounds and 12 pounds, 6 ounces, respectively.
“There is such a strong bond between them,” their mother told the Daily Mail. “They are always holding hands and if one cries, the other reaches out to comfort him.
“Doctors tried to break their bond in the womb, but they just proved it couldn’t be broken.”
Pharmacists win round in Washington
A federal judge ruled Nov. 8 in favor of Washington state pharmacists who object to dispensing a “morning-after” pill that has abortion-causing qualities.
Ronald Leighton blocked the enforcement of recent state rules requiring pharmacists to fill prescriptions for Plan B, saying the regulations appeared to violate religious freedom. He issued the decision in a lawsuit brought by pharmacists and a pharmacy owner in an ongoing case. If a pharmacist objects to filling a prescription for Plan B, he must refer the customer to another pharmacy, according to the judge’s ruling.
Leighton said the rules appear to force pharmacists who oppose Plan B either to “dispense a drug that ends a life as defined by their religious teachings, or leave their present positions in the state of Washington,” according to The Seattle Times.
Plan B is basically a heavier dose of birth control pills. Under the regimen, a woman takes two pills within 72 hours of sexual intercourse and another dose 12 hours later. The “morning-after” pill, also known as emergency contraception, works to restrict ovulation in a woman. It also can act after conception, thereby causing an abortion, pro-lifers point out. This mechanism of the drug blocks implantation of a tiny embryo in the uterine wall.
“The government shouldn’t force pro-life pharmacists or any other health care providers to violate their religious beliefs simply to appease a political agenda,” said Kristen Waggoner, a Seattle lawyer who is affiliated with the Alliance Defense Fund. “The right to conscientiously object to the taking of human life is deeply rooted in our nation’s history and laws.”
Prescriptions are no longer required in the United States in order for adult women to purchase Plan B. The federal government’s Food and Drug Administration approved last year the non-prescription sale of Plan B for use by women 18 and older.
Pence targets abortion providers again
Congressman Mike Pence is practicing that old adage: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
The Indiana Republican announced Nov. 8 the introduction of a bill to bar federal family planning funds for organizations that perform abortions. The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act would not eliminate any funds from the government’s family planning program but would prevent abortion providers from receiving such grants.
Pence’s new bill would apply to all abortion providers. In July he sought specifically to block the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Title X’s top beneficiary, from such funding. His amendment to that effect failed in a 231-189 vote.
“[S]hould the largest abortion provider in America also be the largest recipient of federal family planning funding under Title X? I think not,” Pence said in a written release.
Planned Parenthood performed more than 260,000 abortions during the last fiscal year.
In October, the Senate defeated 52-41 an amendment similar to Pence’s new legislation.
Title X funds may not be used directly for abortions. Pro-life advocates, however, point out clinics may use the grants to cover other costs, thereby enabling them to use money from different sources to promote and perform abortions.
Alaska high court stiffs parents
The Alaska Supreme Court struck down Nov. 2 a 10-year-old law requiring girls under the age of 17 to receive a parent’s approval before undergoing an abortion.
The high court said in its 3-2 decision the parental consent law burdened the reproductive rights of minors. The law, which also enabled a judge to grant permission for an abortion, was never enforced after Planned Parenthood and others challenged it in court.
Gov. Sarah Palin, a Republican, described the ruling as “outrageous.”
The court “has failed Alaska by separating parents from their children during such a critical decision, moving in the exact opposite direction from the law’s intent,” Palin said in a written statement. “This decision is clearly a case of legislating from the bench.”
Legitimate parental consent laws are in effect in 22 states, while parental notice laws are being enforced in seven states, according to the National Right to Life Committee.
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1 On Sep 21st, 2008, at 9:08pm, carissa wrote:
wow is all i can say to this story! im only 17. it makes me think alot about how many times this may have happened with someone else and the doctors may have suceeded in killing, when the turn out could have been like gabriel and leuan.