The picture is from the pexel.com website.
There were two key aspects that I felt were necessary to address in the article, “I’m An OB-GYN. I Was Forced To Travel Out Of State To End My Wanted Pregnancy,” written by Dr. Anna Igler who wrote the article about aborting her baby girl.
Many thoughts swirl in my heart and head as I ponder this blog entitled, “I’m An OBGYN. I Was Forced To Travel Out Of State To End My Wanted Pregnancy.” The initial thought that came to mind is the broken lie sold to women by the field meant to protect the family unit. The OB/GYN field is meant to cherish and protect the family unit, but it has become one that breaks apart the very foundation of the mother and child bond and the heart of the family.
ACOG’s statement on abortion shows how anti-child and anti-family they are. ACOG states, “Many factors influence or necessitate a woman’s decision to have an abortion. They include, but are not limited to, contraceptive failure, barriers to contraceptive use and access, rape, incest, intimate partner violence, fetal anomalies, illness during pregnancy, and exposure to teratogenic medications.”[1]
Dr. Anna Igler is a mother and an OBGYN who had an ultrasound at 24 weeks pregnant with her beautiful daughter who she found out through further testing that her daughter had microcephaly.
Dr. Anna Igler states, “When I learned that I had been unknowingly infected with an entirely different virus, and that I had passed it to my daughter in utero, I was devastated. In an instant, my husband and I went from organizing a nursery to organizing a trip out of state to terminate a pregnancy we desperately wanted…. My world turned upside down at my 24-week anatomy scan when I saw my baby on the ultrasound monitor….. As an OB-GYN with nearly a decade of experience, I knew immediately that something was wrong. Nora’s head measured extremely small (<1%), and it was clear that she had microcephaly, a serious condition related to brain development. Microcephaly can have many causes, some with minor health implications and others with more serious consequences. I needed more testing to understand what was going on with my baby. The devastating results came back two days later. My daughter had been infected with a common virus that typically infects people in early childhood, cytomegalovirus (CMV). This virus isn’t dangerous to most people, and there is no vaccine. However, if a developing baby contracts this in early pregnancy through the mother, it can cause a severe fetal infection. I knew that the condition meant I could lose Nora Rose at any moment, and if she survived, she would live with devastating developmental and mental disabilities.”[2]
She aborted her daughter.
The tragic words that filled this article state, “I’m an experienced OB-GYN, but it was my instinct as a loving mother above all that led me to choose termination. My husband and I chose mercy out of love for our child.” There is nothing merciful or loving about abortion.
She shared that due to Wisconsin’s law banning abortion after 21 6/7 weeks, she said that she had to go to another state to abort which happened to be Colorado and that due to this she could not have her son with her nor have her own medical team with her as she walked through aborting her daughter. She spoke of the financial cost to abort her daughter which was $6,000 and how this solely paid for the abortion itself not other costs associated with traveling out of state.
Her viewpoint is if only she could have aborted in her home state, she would have had her family by her side and her medical team with her.
She paints a picture of her experience of being one of abortion being a necessity and the need of support from her medical staff and family as they walked through this tragic loss. To the contrary, she does not share that this experience did not have to be. She did not have to go through having a poison injected into Nora Rose’s heart to give her a heart attack and die and then for her mother to go through 2-3 days of labor to deliver her dead daughter. This family did not need support in aborting their daughter, they needed support in cherishing their baby. The emotional turmoil this mother wrestled with afterward expressed itself with her sharing that politicians should not tell obgyns how to care for their patients and tell women what to do denies the patient inside of the womb. She states, “I am also enraged that politicians with no medical degree, knowledge or expertise are telling me and all obstetricians how to take care of our patients. This is dangerous, and we will continue to see women suffer and die until there is federal protection for abortion across every state.”
She dismisses the fact that the preborn child is one of her patients and encourages couples to abort their child/her patient. This is not only killing her patient but going against her oath. She expresses that not being able to abort will cause women to suffer and die but she does not give details. This leaves numerous questions to ask and ponder what type of conditions would mean a mother could die if she did not abort? The answer is none. Simply none. There is never a medical reason that a mother would need to abort her child or children.
Let’s say you believe that abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother. I have heard the argument for abortion in need of ectopic pregnancies or when the mother’s life is in danger. First off, the point of an abortion is to preemptively kill a child. Let’s take the first argument used to justify abortion. An ectopic pregnancy is when a little one is growing inside of his or her mother’s fallopian tube instead of the womb and if the baby is not removed then the fallopian tube will burst, and the mother and baby will die. The act of removing the tube is not the act to directly go in and kill the baby, it is simply to remove the tube and once this occurs the baby dies, but again they are not intentionally killing the baby.
The notions and why this mindset that abortion is “necessary to save the life of the mother” can so easily be touted in our society as “necessary” and “medical care” because no one ever talks about what abortion is, how it is done, and what happens. If society knew then they would realize in a nanosecond that abortion is not “healthcare” and is not “necessary to save the life of the mother.” They do not talk about the brutal reality of the taking of a child’s life and the agony a mother walks through as she walks through the very doors that will take away one heartbeat and leave another forever damaged and crushed. Abortion is talked about as if it is the most natural act a mother could do for her life and to spare her child’s suffering. Our society forgos the nature and reality of abortion.
What is abortion? Live Action has a series of videos explained by Dr. Anthony Levatino and other former abortionists who explain the different trimester abortions. Dr. Anthony Levatino is a former abortionist, and he describes the type of abortion that was most likely done to Nora Rose.
Dr. Anthony Levatino explains what a third-trimester abortion is. (3)
The words she used expressed on that often invoke a heartbreaking tragedy a viewpoint of sorrow that she had to abort without any support from her medical team or her son around but what is missing from the story is that this process did not have to be done, it was not best for Nora, and the article expresses this mindset of tragedy that she “had to abort her baby and she had to do it alone with no support and no one around her that she knew.” This heart-tugging story dismisses the brutal reality of what was done to Nora and the brutal reality of the abortion industry. It acts as if this is a nice little procedure done to spare Nora from suffering. This could not be further from the truth as Nora suffered a brutal death at the hands of the abortionist. Nora’s life was valuable and worth protecting. This mother will one day live with deep pain and regret when or if she realizes what was not only done to Nora but the lie that was sold to this mother.
These words break my heart as this beautiful little girl was preemptively killed all because she had a disability. What crime did she commit to deserve such a grave punishment as death and death done by the hands of the very field meant to be her defender. Another broken horror is the misunderstanding of love and mercy by the mother. This mother was sold a broken narrative, one cushioned with medical language to sound as if it is healthcare, that ultimately not only took the beautiful life of precious Nora Rose but also left her mother with the false impression that she spared her daughter from suffering. What suffering would Nora have experienced by being in her mother’s womb all cozy and comfortable growing and enjoying listening to the sound of her mother’s heartbeat, hearing music play in their home, and being able to hear the sound of her father and mother’s voice and yet it all ended when she was marked for death in the name of “love and mercy.” Genesis 4:10 states, “The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” Oh how our families need to know God’s mercy and love, a love that sacrificed God’s only Son for us not the false narrative that a child sacrifice, her life by sparing her the ultimate tragedy of being born and living with a disability.
In our society, we have this topsy-turvy mindset that believes if you have a disability outside the womb, it does not define you. We champion and celebrate the person by seeing all they can do and be despite the disability, which is how it should be, while to the contrary if the child has the same condition inside the womb all our society can see is a disability not a child who has much ability despite the disability.
It is heartbreaking to me that this mother was sold a heartbreaking lie in the medical education she received to see that her immediate thought when finding out about her beautiful baby girl’s condition was to abort her baby not cherish her baby and hold her. The medical field teaches these vulnerable and open-minded medical students that the worst thing a child who has a health condition can experience is life outside of the womb assuming that it will be a life filled with supposed suffering while they negate the suffering the child actually experiences by being aborted and not only suffers but is killed. These precious families are being sold a lie and what breaks my heart the most is seeing not only that this mother/obgyn was not taught in medical school to cherish both mother and child but due to this false narrative, she did not know that she would actually spare her daughter from suffering if she would have fought for her baby Nora Rose’s life.
She could have held her baby girl in her womb until she was born and held her in her arms, and cared for her. Although life would not be easy for Nora, it would not have been one of suffering as some of the most joy-filled people are those who live with “devastating developmental and mental disabilities,” and this is because their disability provides an opportunity that our ability denies us which is the ability to know the Lord’s love in a pure way that is missed by those who do not have a disability. I think that which is seen as a disability is what provides to be the greatest ability.
I have a dear friend named Mary Kellett and her precious and beautiful son, Peter Kellett, was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 in the womb. Doctors begged Mary to abort Peter, and she refused and even when he was born the medical field turned their back on Peter and denied him care. Mary shared that of her 11 children she said, “Yes, I would joke that he was the easiest of all the kids because I always knew where he was, and he never said any bad words. But also he was very happy and sweet and filled with joy. He loved reading the Bible and he loved Praise and Worship music. He loved when I would read to him poems from Saint John of the Cross who was a mystic. I told him one time after reading to him, You understand this more than me, don’t you? He just gave me a big smile. He was very pure and spiritually smart. ❤️🙏🏻❤️”
Mary called Peter “our little teacher.”
Nora could have been “our little teacher,” a teacher who would have taught her mother and father that our life’s worth and value is not dependent upon one’s disability but upon being made in God’s Image. Nora’s life would have given other couples hope to choose life for their baby too.
Another aspect is that parents who abort aren’t aborting because they think, “Well today I am embracing women’s rights.” They abort because they “feel they have no other choice.” What does this say? What message does this send? It says that our society has so failed women and babies and the family unit that they feel they must end the life of their precious little one because they feel they do not have the support to help them financially or because of a health condition the child has. At the root of the cause shows a broken society that fails to express love to families a love that says we welcome a new life in our society whether one can or cannot pay her bills or whether the new one has health conditions or not. It is a welcome with conditions, a welcome that has a checklist of the dos and don’ts in order to be accepted. A new little being created and knit together by Jesus, our Lord, is a precious little darling, a precious gift from Jesus and His Image Bearer always comes at the perfect timing even when life circumstances are upside down. Think of when our Savior chose to enter human history, a time when life was upside down, and it was not easy for Mary, yet His timing is not ours. Also, Biblically speaking another aspect when thinking of children who have microcephaly is looking at Scripturally how God viewed those who had disabilities. Exodus 4:11 states, “11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” Leviticus 19:14 states, “14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.” The first verse speaks clearly to the authority that God has in that He allowed people to be blind, deaf, and mute. Also, it is made very clear in Leviticus that we are to treat those who are blind and deaf with respect, and children who have microcephaly struggle to see and hear. John 9:1-5 shares, “1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” There is a mindset in our society and in the medical community that these children are useless and are better off dead. This Biblical story speaks volumes to the importance of a person’s life with a disability, and also that God has a purpose for the person and the purpose is “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” The purpose for someone’s life with a disability is that their disability is a testament as God used the disability for the man to shine God’s glory. The child who has microcephaly or any other diagnosis is a teacher to society a teacher who cannot hear well or see well and yet the condition the child has is meant to be an example to our society and the Christian community and the medical field that our value does not come from our condition. The world can only see a very sick and ill baby they cannot see the spiritual reality with how this baby is made by God in His Image and that the baby’s condition does not define him or her. Also, this child’s very life is a testament to the value of life.
Did you know that doctor means “teacher” in Latin?[4] Yes, it means teacher and as I ponder this I wonder if only the mother, a physician herself, would have fought for her baby she could have been taught by her precious daughter, a little teacher, what it means to love and I think it would have transformed how she practiced as a physician/teacher. The word, “teacher” is defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as, “one whose occupation is to instruct.”[5] Jesus our Lord and Savior is our Teacher and He is the definer of truth and of life and is the way. These words are sweet and tender, the Lord who made us and spoke creation into being would desire to be a teacher but first desires to be our Savior. Jesus came to earth to die on a Cross for our sins and rise again on the third day so that anyone who believes what Jesus did for us on the Cross and/asks for forgiveness of our sins Jesus will forgive him or her of their sins, past, present and future sins, and will live in of their soul.
As we ponder the joy of Christmas may we remember the greatest present we will receive is not under our tree but who could come and live in our soul.
Merry Christmas,
Rachel Mary ProLife Doc
[1] “Facts Are Important: Abortion is Healthcare,” ACOG, accessed December 9, 2024, Abortion Is Healthcare | ACOG.
[2] “I’m An OB-GYN. I Was Forced To Travel Out Of State To End My Wanted Pregnancy,” MSN, accessed December 9, 2024, I’m An OB-GYN. I Was Forced To Travel Out Of State To End My Wanted Pregnancy.
[3] https://youtu.be/r5Af8vIym2o?si=wKCgQtkSyx97_dDb
[4] “The History of Doctor,” Merriam Webster, last modified December 9, 2024, https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/the-history-of-doctor.
[5] “Dictionary,” Merriam Webster, last modified December 7, 2024, Teacher Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster.
His Love & Care 