The National Health Service has revealed that an abortion meant to kill a sick twin was botched, and accidentally killed the healthy twin, whom the parents had intended to keep.
The botched abortion was revealed in a Freedom of Information Act survey, which exposed 700 deaths due to basic errors which could have been prevented. According to The Sun, the babies were diagnosed with “restrictive growth.” Presumably, this means selective intrauterine growth restriction (sIUGR), a condition which occurs in an estimated 10% to 15% of twin pregnancies. With sIUGR, the growth-restricted twin doesn’t receive enough nourishment from the placenta, and the weight difference between the twins grows higher than 20%.
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust committed the abortion in an effort to help the healthier twin survive the pregnancy. “Selective fetal growth restriction is a condition that occurs in around 10 to 20 percent of twin pregnancies when one of the babies does not receive enough nourishment through the placenta to grow at a normal rate,” a Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists spokesman said in a statement. “In the most serious cases, selective termination can improve the survival chances of the normally grown fetus at the expense of the severely growth-restricted co-twin.”
Yet according to respected health care organizations like Children’s Minnesota, Johns Hopkins, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, there are options available for management and treatment of sIUGR. One study found up to a 90% survival rate in both twins.
READ: Healthy preborn baby aborted in Ireland after doctors’ misdiagnosis
Was the mother offered any interventions or treatment options that would have given a chance of survival to both children? It’s not clear, but the United Kingdom is known for its coercive attitude towards abortion, particularly for preborn children with disabilities. Under those circumstances, the Antenatal Results and Choices (ARC) will only give parents resources and support if they choose to have an abortion after a prenatal diagnosis. It is unclear if this was the case for this family.
Dr. Fiona Reynolds, chief medical officer at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Trust, called the mistake a “fatal error” which occurred during a “highly specialised fetal procedure.”
Yet this wasn’t a highly specialized health care procedure — it was an abortion, which is meant to intentionally kill a human being. The problem in this situation is that a child was deliberately killed due to a eugenic mindset.
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