LIFE DIGEST: Woman chooses life for child wrongly implanted
- Sep 29, 2009 -
An Ohio woman gave birth Sept. 24 to a baby boy whom she carried to term after learning a fertility clinic had mistakenly implanted her with another couple’s embryo.
Carolyn Savage, 40, of Sylvania, Ohio, delivered a 5-pound, 3-ounce boy at a Toledo hospital after choosing not to abort him though she learned he was not her son 10 days after embryo implantation.
Also in this edition: Black pro-lifers decry endorsement of health-care plan, Ultrasound pioneer dies, and Dominican Republic protects unborn in constitution.
The boy’s genetic parents are Paul and Shannon Morell of Troy, Mich., who learned a day after Savage and her husband, Sean, about the embryo mix-up by an undisclosed clinic. They were concerned their unborn child would be aborted after they learned of the mistake, but the Savages said they never considered aborting the baby or seeking custody, according to the Associated Press.
“We will be eternally grateful for his guardian angel, Carolyn Savage, and the support of the entire Savage family,” the Morells said in a statement after the birth, AP reported.
“There’s no way we could possibly repay them,” Shannon Morell said, according to ABC News.
In their own statement, the Savages offered “heartfelt congratulations to the Morell family on the birth of their son.”
A week before the birth, Carolyn Savage said, ABC reported, “We’re trying to look at it as a gift for another family that eight months ago we didn’t know.”
The mothers have gone to doctors’ appointments together and intend to stay in touch, according to ABC.
The Morells have 2-year-old twin girls conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF).
The Savages have sons 15 and 12 years of age, as well as a 1-year-old daughter. Their little girl was conceived through IVF. Because of previous complications, Carolyn Savage was told this pregnancy with what was to be her fourth child would need to be her last.
The Savages have an agreement with a surrogate mother to carry and give birth to a remaining embryo conceived by IVF, ABC reported.
A pro-life bioethicist said the story demonstrates the need for oversight of fertility clinics.
“This is an entirely unregulated industry, a business,” wrote David Prentice, senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council. “Maybe it’s about time we took a harder look at the whole idea of cavalierly creating life in the lab.”
Black pro-lifers decry endorsement of health-care plan
Black pro-life pastors and leaders expressed “outrage” Sept. 28 at the recent endorsement by African-American clergy of the Obama administration’s health-care reform proposal.
On Sept. 24, Church of God in Christ Presiding Bishop Charles Blake of Los Angeles released in union with other black pastors a statement supporting the plan backed by President Obama. In his comments endorsing the legislation, Blake said, “In accord with our commitment to Christian teaching, we wholeheartedly affirm the President’s position that medical costs related to the abortion of fetuses shall not be covered by health care plans funded by this initiative.”
Though Obama has said the proposal he signs into law will not provide federal funding for abortions, the House of Representatives bill approved by three committees – and supposedly backed by the administration – will authorize government money for abortions.
The black pro-lifers urged Blake and the others to withdraw their endorsement until language is added to exclude abortion funding. They said in a written statement, “If unborn children cannot depend on the Church to carefully examine this bill to see if their lives will be protected from state-funded genocide, on whom can they depend?”
“Such an endorsement does not consider the devastating impact abortion is having in the black community,” the black pro-life leaders said, adding abortion in the black community “outpaces death by heart disease, diabetes, cancer, HIV/AIDS and violent crime combined.”
Among the six signers to the pro-life statement were Walter Hoye of Issues4Life Foundation, Johnny Hunter of LEARN (Life Education and Resource Network) Inc. and Levon Yuille, chairman of the National Black Pro-life Congress. All are pastors or former pastors.
In August 2008, Blake denounced abortion in an interfaith service at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. He urged Obama to “follow through on his promise . . . to reduce the number of abortions,” according to the Rocky Mountain News.
Ultrasound pioneer dies
John Wild, 95, who pioneered ultrasound imaging, died Sept. 18.
A native of Great Britain, Wild passed away in Edina, Minn. Wild moved to Minnesota after World War II, and it was there he developed the ultrasound technique that is used in a variety of medical fields.
Ultrasound has been especially valuable to pregnancy care centers in helping women in crisis choose life for their unborn children.
“Ultrasound has been an irreplaceable tool that has helped women have a window into their womb and bond with their preborn children,” said Kelly Rosati, senior director of Focus on the Family’s Sanctity of Human Life department.
“An at-risk woman is twice as likely to choose life for her unborn child if she’s had an ultrasound after counseling, versus just counseling,” Rosati said, according to Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink.
Focus on the Family and the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) are among organizations that provide funding for ultrasound machines in pregnancy care centers. Information on the ERLC’s ultrasound funding effort, known as the Psalm 139 Project, is available at www.psalm139project.org.
Dominican Republic protects unborn in constitution
Legislators in the Dominican Republic have amended the country’s constitution to protect all unborn human beings despite international pressure.
The National Assembly voted 128-32 during the week of Sept. 13-19 to change the constitution to say “the right to life is inviolable from conception until death,” according to the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM). United Nations officials, abortion rights organizations and Amnesty International campaigned against the revision, C-FAM reported.
When the language is officially adopted, the Dominican Republic will join Chile, Guatemala and Paraguay as Latin American countries with constitutional protections for unborn children, according to the report.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to protect the sanctity of human life. If you would like to learn more about this issue, additional resources are available here. If your church is interested in purchasing bulletin inserts or other materials on the sanctity of human life, please visit our online bookstore and erlc.com.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Life, Abortion, Infertility, Science, Bioethics