Mary KennyTechnology is pushing back the frontiers of early survival for babies, writes Mary Kenny
I have always believed that scientific and technical advances will eventually be – and often already are – supportive of the pro-life cause in the debate about abortion.
I regularly encounter women, now in their fifties and sixties, whose answer to the ordinary greeting of “How are you?” is – “Terrific! – I’m going to be a grandmother!”
The next thing is they take out a mobile phone and show a picture of the pregnancy scan. “Look! Isn’t the baby clear!” they exclaim, displaying the image. The discussion then moves on to how many weeks the daughter (or daughter-in-law) is pregnant. The answer is often in the first trimester of pregnancy – that is, under 12-14 weeks.
In the face of this technological evidence, how can it be denied that the unborn is a human life? This life depends on the mother’s body, but is not part of the mother’s body, possessing its own DNA and quite often a different blood group. The scanner is, without doubt, a strong witness in the case for the unborn.
Drama
Even more dramatically, perhaps, is the news released this week that, in Britain, more and more babies born at 23 weeks’ gestation are now surviving (the legal limit for abortion in the UK is 24 weeks and, in special cases, even beyond that).
Data from 25 British hospitals over the past four years reveals that 120 babies born at 23 weeks’ gestation survived. At University College Hospital in London – which has an ace neonatal unit – six of seven babies born at 23 weeks survived.
At Manchester’s University Hospital, six out of eight 23-week babies survived. Previously, a study done in 2006 claimed that only 19 per cent of infants born at 23 weeks survived, but it is now evident that technology and neonatal care are constantly improving that figure.
Yes, babies born at such a premature point are more liable to have health problems, but this situation is also improving. Lily Burrows was born at 23 weeks in Edinburgh Royal Hospital in March 2009. Weighing only one pound, three ounces, it was predicted that she would have long-term health difficulties if she survived. She is starting school this week and is thriving.
Technology – and also medical and nursing expertise – is pushing back the frontiers of early survival. Not coincidentally, doctors and nurses involved in neonatal care are the most hostile to later abortion. (In surveys among the medical profession, psychiatrists are the most pro-abortion, paediatricians the most opposed.)
The law in Britain still allows abortion at 24 weeks, and 560 abortions a year are carried out at this gestation. But mark my words, scientific and technological advance will eventually make a mockery of any law – including Ireland’s – which allows the termination of pregnancy up to the point of birth.
Still living in ‘digs’
The increase in rents for students has led to the suggestion that young people may be driven to a practice that fell out of favour decades ago: living in ‘digs’.
There was a time when all young people living away from the parental home went into digs, sometimes patrolled by a landlady who insisted on certain standards. It was in many ways a very practical and even civilising experience: it was economical, alleviated loneliness for newcomers to big cities, and helped the development of social skills.
Memories of the 1950s
Some older people also have hilarious memories of life in digs, which included jokes, pranks and all kinds of amusing episodes.
My husband lodged in digs in Islington during the late 1950s, which, eccentrically, belonged to a Trotskyist landlady who conducted late-night discussions about politics. One day a shy Irish girl appeared at the door, asking “Is the woman of the house at home?” Richard admitted her and befriended her: her name was Mary Holland, the late, renowned journalist.
Embracing all causes
The Garda station in Henry Street, Limerick, has been flying the multi-coloured gay pride flag as a gesture of support and solidarity with the gay community in that city, alas, so notorious for its crime rate.
I am sure it is kindly meant, but such gestures can leave other sections of the general populace aggrieved that their cause hasn’t been similarly embraced.
Why not fly a banner of solidarity for the Travelling community? They have been subjected to enough prejudice and unfair treatment over the years.
Why not put up the colours for religious minorities – the Quakers, for example, to whom Ireland owes a great debt for compassion during the Famine? How about a symbol of support for the disabled?
Perhaps the first step is for each section of the community to develop its own, separate ensign. So, Travelling folk, get working on your special flag and emblem and no doubt the gardaí in Limerick will run it up the flagpole for you.