Italian Hospital A*orts "Wrong" Twin

I came across this story earlier this week via my bloglines feed. As many feeds as I've had on this story I guess it's been spreading like wildfire.

It's a sad story indeed.

Here are 2 links to the story: Italian Hospital A*orts Healthy Twin and Leaves Handicapped Sibling and this one: L'Osservatore Condemns Twin Abortion in Italy

(there are a few things in the articles I don't agree with - such as just because a baby has Down syndrome doesn't mean they aren't healthy, but this isn't about how the article is written, but instead what the article is about.)

Here's the recap. A woman was pregnant with twin girls. She found out one of the twins had Down syndrome and went in to a*ort that twin. Somehow between the time of the u/s and the actual procedure the twins moved and changed places. The twin without Down syndrome was a*orted. The woman found out later the "wrong" twin was a*orted (not clear on how she found out as neither article goes into detail) and went back to have that twin a*orted. One article says she was 18 weeks along, the other says the twins were in the 3rd month of gestation - not sure which is accurate.

I don't mean to sound crass, uncaring, cold-hearted, or cynical, because I'm sure this woman is hurting and devastated to have neither child, but I have to wonder - was it worth it? Was it worth it to not want one twin so badly because she had Down syndrome that she had to a*ort it and now has lost both of her babies? She had two precious baby girls she could have welcomed into the world, and now they are both gone.

Sad.

What else I find sad is if the twin with Down syndrome was a*orted the first time, this story would have never made news. It happens every day and it's acceptable, the media wouldn't have reported, "Woman pregnant with twins a*orts baby with Down syndrome." But because the precious baby without Down syndrome was wrongly terminated it became newsworthy.

Sad indeed.

Here is a quote from Bishop Elio Sgreccia, president of the Pontifical Commission for Life.

He said: "All of us have to feel involved in this and many other cases that are repeated every day, to take on a new and different commitment for the respect of human life from its first moment, because these little ones share in the same dignity we have. And in the case that they have some sort of sickness, that simply means that they have more motive to be helped."