By Dr. Kelly Hollowell
I have written only a handful of columns that required
fighting back the tears. This is one of them.
I got a call last Thursday from a colleague-in-arms
asking me for help. He wanted me to write the story I am
about to tell because it has been buried by a conspiratorial
level of silence rooted in political and media bias.
This is the story about an incredibly loving young girl
named Christin. A very active high-school graduate and a
beloved member of her softball team and community, she was
sweet beyond the norm as so often is the case for children
with her diagnosis. She had Down syndrome. (I have heard
it said, anecdotally, the extra chromosome which
characterizes Trisomy 21, encodes for love. For those of
you blessed enough to know anyone with Down syndrome, you
will likely agree.)
There is simply something about these gifted children
that reminds us all about what really matters in life no
matter how busy and how complicated our lives appear. Sen.
Brownback, R-Kan., made just that point last week on the
third day of hearings on the nomination of Judge Roberts.
He spoke on the effects of Roe vs. Wade and on children
diagnosed with a disability while still in the womb.
Specifically, the records show that 80-90 percent of all
children diagnosed with DS are killed. One tragedy to this
statistic beyond the obvious taking of life is that waiting
lists of people exist to adopt these children. These deaths
are a great loss not only to the mother and family, but
society as a whole. By way of example, Sen. Brownback
spoke of a young man named Jimmy diagnosed with DS who
operates an elevator in the Senate building.
His warm smile welcomes us every day. We're a better
body for him. He told me the other day – he frequently
gives me a hug in the elevator afterwards. I know he does
Sen. Hatch often, too, who kindly gives him ties, some of
which I question the taste of, Orrin ...
(LAUGHTER)
... but he kindly gives ties.
HATCH: It doesn't have to get personal ...
(LAUGHTER)
BROWNBACK: And Jimmy said to me the other day after he
hugged me; he said Shhh, don't tell my supervisor. They're
telling me I'm hugging too many people.
(LAUGHTER)
BROWNBACK: And, yet, we're ennobled by him and what he
does and how he lifts up our humanity and 80 to 90 percent
of the kids in this country like Jimmy never get here.
What does that do to us? What does that say about
us?
That means Jimmy and Christin were lucky exceptions to
the general rule and trend to kill the unborn diagnosed with
a disability. Sadly, Chrisitin's luck unexpectedly ran out
this past year when she was not only sexually assaulted in
January of this year, but remarkably became pregnant. No
one seems sure of the occurrence that young women diagnosed
with DS become pregnant. According to the experts I
consulted, the numbers are likely too rare for an official
count. One thing is sure, of those becoming pregnant,
complications are likely to exist.
In Christin's case, she was taken by her family at 28
weeks pregnant to Wichita, Kan., to the infamous abortion
clinic of
Dr. George Tiller. At that time, a drug was administered to kill the baby
and another drug to open the cervix for delivery or removal
of the dead baby. After starting the procedure, which
normally takes 3-4 days, Christin was sent to a local hotel
to begin her labor.
Somewhat surprisingly, she returned to the clinic the
next day, the abortion procedure was completed and she was
once again told to return to her hotel room. Immediately
her condition began to deteriorate. When she returned to
the clinic, her symptoms were misdiagnosed as dehydration.
She was given an IV and again sent back to her hotel where
she began having episodes of vomiting and unconsciousness.
She was advised to return to the clinic where she became
unresponsive. By this time Christin was in serious trouble.
According to one doctor who reviewed her autopsy report, she
was "bleeding and oozing from every orifice of her body."
A clinic employee called 911. More worried abut the
clinics image than Christin, she begged the dispatcher to
turn off the lights or sirens of the ambulance. The
ambulance arrived and took Christin to the emergency room at
Wesley Medical Center, but it was too late. Christin died.
According to the medical examiner's report, her horrifying
and painful death was a direct result of the abortion.
What's worse, it could have been prevented if not for the
misdiagnosis and slow response of clinic staff.
I really must wonder how much she understood of what was
happening to her during those painful and frightening hours
and days leading to her death and the death of her baby.
But without any coverage from the news, no outcry from her
parents or the public, Christin is now dead. This sweet and
precious little girl was sexually assaulted, her baby was
killed (likely without her consent) then she herself
suffered and died a brutal and painful end.
God help us for not protecting the most precious and
vulnerable among us. I can only repeat the questions asked
by Sen. Brownback: "What does that do to us? What does
that say about us?"
Kelly Hollowell, J.D., Ph.D., is a scientist, patent attorney and adjunct law professor of
bioethics. She is a senior strategist for the
Center for Reclaiming America, a conference speaker
and founder of
Science Ministries Inc.
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Pro-Choice advocates - those who
fervently preach that abortion should be available at any time, to any woman, for any reason (or
no reason at all) - are faced with a
logical paradox that
they cannot possibly resolve. In other words, their arguments are hollow and
self-inconsistent which no thinking person could possibly accept... and yet many do. Thank God,
there is a growing group of physicians who take their Hippocratic Oath seriously:
First, Do No Harm