Thursday, May 19, 2011

Killing is kindness?

At the Daily Mail, a woman who is regular Daily Mail writer shares the story of how she aborted her child because he had spina bifida and doctors said he wouldn't be able to walk. Her thought process is sickening. How messed up is our society when people actually think that killing your own child because he will be paralyzed is the kindest thing to do?
I pictured him watching from the sofa, frustrated and immobile, as his sisters turned cartwheels and somersaults in the living room. I envisaged trips to the park, where he would sit on the sidelines as other children clambered over climbing frames and kicked footballs......

I tried to shake away the image I conjured in my head of a little boy, lonely and friendless, robbed of the most basic human functions. The prospect of watching a child I'd love just as much as his sisters suffer in this way made me howl. I hugged my stomach, as if I could in some way shield him from the misery that lay ahead.....

And so it was that a week after that first scan, and against my initial instincts, I realised I couldn't bring this child into the world, knowing the extent to which he would suffer.

Andrew and I talked long into the night, and finally agreed that ending the pregnancy was the kindest thing we could do for our son.

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