A baby in the UK reportedly survived an abortion at 20 weeks in October of 2021, and lived for five hours and 25 minutes outside the womb following the attempt on his life.
According to The Oldham Times, the abortion was carried out at Royal Oldham Hospital after Shamima Begum learned during a 20-week ultrasound that her baby had acrania, a condition in which the skull doesn’t develop. Begum decided to have an abortion without speaking with the baby’s father because they were no longer in a relationship, and doctors induced premature labor.
While such a late abortion is usually carried out by stopping the child’s heart with a lethal injection of digoxin to ensure the child is dead before delivery, doctors in the UK induced premature labor without first killing the baby. As a result, Begum’s son survived the attempted abortion, but died in the early morning of October 18, 2021. It is unclear whether or not he received any medical care.
20 week baby in the womb
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Royal Oldham Hospital also recently admitted to multiple failures in the death of a full-term baby whose mother was left unattended for an extended period of time while her labor stalled.
Assistant Coroner for Manchester North Alex Preston opened an inquest into the baby boy’s death. Dr. Annabel Dieh, a consultant obstetrician at Royal Oldham Hospital, confirmed the diagnosis of acrania. Dieh said Baby Begum was not going to survive long after his birth because of this health condition.
During a hearing at Manchester North Coroner’s Court, Preston explained that following the inquest, the medical cause of death was determined to be “multiple abnormalities, acrania.”
“The deceased was delivered at 20 weeks following a planned termination […],” she said. “The conclusion I have is that he died following a planned termination of pregnancy.” Preston added, “I would like to express my sincere condolences to the family. It is a sad death. It is always sad when a death involves a baby.”
It is absolutely heartbreaking that Baby Begum died, but in this case, his death was caused prematurely by those who were tasked with protecting and caring for him. He died not because it was his time to die, but because he was forced out of the safety of his mother’s womb with the plan that he would die sooner than expected.
Committing abortions on children because they are not perfect or don’t meet a certain expected health standard is an act of eugenics. Baby Begum’s life and death are proof that babies do survive abortions. Many times they are left to die despite laws meant to ensure they receive appropriate medical care.
