Dear society,
How are you doing? I am good and I hope to hear
the same from your end. If we are done with these niceties, I am in a hurry to
tell you something. Can you believe it! I am now in my twenty ninth week of
pregnancy. I never realized time flies so fast. In not less than ten weeks my
baby will see this world with its naked eyes and I have to get my mind clear of
all doubts and confusion about this world and particularly about you, the ruler
of the world.
This sudden realization dawned upon me when I
received an email from my hospital asking me to get a growth scan done this
week. It might sound dramatic but I felt a pang hit my stomach as I went
through the contents. My baby has already grown so big that the hospital now
thinks it fit to check its growth, height and weight.
I still remember my first pregnancy scan as if
it happened yesterday. The size of my baby had been not greater than a lentil.
You would care lesser for it though, if you haven’t heard what I heard that
day. It was the beat of its heart. That rhythm killed me as a woman and poured
life into a mother. From that moment, I couldn’t think about myself without
thinking about the tiny pounding heart within me. I couldn’t ignore my health,
I couldn’t accept any unfair treatment towards children, I couldn’t stay put
and peaceful but I couldn’t let myself turn restless, I couldn’t do many things
but I couldn’t resist trying to stop myself from doing them for the sake of my
baby.
You might remember my letter to you about a
Nuchal Translucency scan I underwent in my third month of pregnancy. I was so
angered about the way the doctor told me about Down’s syndrome and how this
scan provides me an opportunity to end the journey of a possible invalid right
in its first steps into life. A similar experience disturbed me for more than a
fortnight when I had an anomaly scan done in my sixth month into pregnancy.
This anomaly scan, also referred to as TIFFA
scan as the name suggests, identifies any anomalies in organ development.
Sometimes, possible miscarriages are identified through this scan in the form
of mal-functioning heart, kidney or liver or any other grave disorders. This
scan however, is popularly known for one function and that is the identification
of any disability in the child. “You need not give birth to a baby destined to
suffer for a lifetime. You can just let it go and walk away as if it never
happened”, said a patient I hit a conversation with while waiting for my turn.
Arguments about this 21st week
abortions are ripe across the globe. While few support a woman’s right to
decide when and how she wants to terminate her baby, few argue against the
grave injustice it might be to the baby. One thing is right, a parent knows
what suits best for one’s child and none can infringe their right in that
matter. However, when it comes to life, no individual has the right to end the
other’s life be it one’s own father or mother.
Lost in these inner contradictions, I started
reading about abortions due to anomalies and what others think about them. I
found equally convincing arguments from both ends and could not choose one side
without agreeing that the other has a valid point too. One article however
caught my attention and that steeled my determination to let my baby live even
if it is diagnosed with a disability. It was a survey that says majority of the
disabled respondents said that they would rather live than be killed in womb.
When all the arguments about anomaly abortions are directed towards the hard
life that one needs to force an individual to lead while one had the option to
save them from that pain, this response seemed to point a finger in the other
direction.
“What would you do if your child breaks an
ankle at five? Will you kill it like you would have when it was in your womb?”
asked a friend of mine when I told her all about my confusion. “At 21 weeks
your baby already has a heart and mind of its own. You cannot just stab it with
a surgical knife and deny calling it a murder”, she added.
Those words made me think further. We always talk
about rights for the living and dead but we rarely talk about the rights for
the unborn and the about-to-be-born. Dear society, why aren’t fetus considered
equal to an infant just because they haven’t yet entered the world? In days
when a baby is not seen until it emerges out of the womb it can be taken into
account that it came to life the moment it left its mother. However, now that
we can see it grow and hear its rhythm of life, how can we still consider a
non-entity until it breaks its shell?
In cases of emergency, where either the mother
or the child is at risk of death, 21 weeks abortions are unavoidable but just because
there is a supposed disability that the baby had to live for a lifetime with,
none has the right to decide on its behalf if it wants to live or die.
There may be valid arguments against my point
and I completely respect a woman’s decision regarding her body and her
offspring but if at all a woman approaches you in a dilemma regarding this
issue, please tell her what I personally think.
May be she might find my advice convincing and
give birth to a baby that may be disabled physically but strong and complete at
heart.
Thank you for being a patient listener as you
had always been,
Yours lovingly,
An Expecting Mother.
Comments
Post a Comment