Her Doctor Told Her to Abort Her Baby With Down Syndrome. Now, She’s Showing Him the Value of Life.

[Valin]

National Post:

Ericka Andersen

June 8, 2016

 

When prenatal tests revealed Courtney Baker’s baby had Down Syndrome, her doctor recommended she have an abortion. He said it would decrease her “quality of life” significantly to have such a child and continued pressuring her to choose abortion even after she decided against it. After giving birth to a healthy baby girl with Down Syndrome, whom she named Emersyn Faith, Baker was confident she had to send a message to that doctor.

 

A friend of hers, who also had a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome, had experienced a completely different relationship with her own doctor. Rather than try to convince her that her unborn child was better off dead, he told her the baby was “perfect” before birth — and after. Two women, two very different experiences with the same diagnosis. Baker doesn’t want any other women to feel the devastating pressure to kill their children like she did.

 

“I knew how important it was going to be to write that letter, before Emmy was even born,” said Baker. Receiving the news that your child has Down Syndrome is not what parents are hoping to hear — and it’s true, abortion rates for such a diagnosis are high — but it’s clearly not a doctor’s place to pressure anyone to terminate an otherwise healthy, viable pregnancy.

 

(Snip)

 

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Mom and Baby With Down Syndrome Mail Letter to Doctor Who Suggested Abortion (ABC News)