(Daily Mail) — Nebraska’s new abortion law forced one woman to give birth to her terminally ill, premature baby who she then helplessly held dying in her arms.
[…]
With this heartbreaking information [that their baby would not survive] the couple decided to have an abortion to avoid the baby going through any pain.
However a new law in Nebraska, the only one of its kind in America, bars abortion at 20 weeks except in specific situations when the mother’s life is in immediate danger.
The Deavers did not qualify and were not allowed to have an abortion. Instead they were sent home where they had to wait for ten days knowing that when their baby arrived she had no chance of surviving.
After the days of waiting Deaver gave birth to Elizabeth and held her as she struggled for breath and died fifteen minutes later.
[…]
Danielle Deaver,34, of Grand Island, described the pain of waiting to give birth to a baby she knew would die.
‘While we waited, we tried to pray, but we didn’t know what to pray for. So we spent our days and nights telling our daughter how much we loved her, how sorry we were, and how we wished we could do something different.
‘There are no words for how awful the 10 days were from the moment my water broke to the day my daughter died. There are no words for the heart break that cut deeper every time she moved inside of me for those 10 days,’
Make no mistake, this couple’s story is both tragic and sad, and I am in no way trying to minimize the family’s anguish. But does the knowledge that their baby will not survive justify taking its life while still in the womb through abortion?
As much as I can try to empathize with the couple, I don’t know that they have thought through what it is they are actually saying. Essentially, Mrs. Deaver seems to believe that it’s better to take her daughter’s life through abortion (which is a particularly grizzly procedure for the baby) rather than allow her daughter to die from natural causes in the warmth of her mother’s arms.
Tragically, we know that regardless of whether Deaver aborts or gives birth, her daughter will not survive. Having the abortion will not spare her daughter any pain, however. It only serves to allow the baby to die outside the view of her parents. Of course I can understand wanting to spare yourself of seeing your child die in your arms, but does the emotional turmoil somehow justify taking the baby’s life? I don’t think so.
Had their child been born and lived 6 months or a year or two and began to die, would she prefer being absent from her daughter’s side leaving her at the hospital during the process and let the hospital dispose of the body in order to spare her own heartache? I sincerely doubt it. In fact, I’d wager she would want to be with her baby every step of the way. Like any parent, Mr. and Mrs. Deaver would likely take leave from work and sleep at their child’s bedside to ensure they didn’t miss a single moment they had left.
Clearly the Deavers didn’t view their baby as merely a fetus. They were not confused as to what was occupying Mrs. Deaver’s womb. It wasn’t a mass of tissue, a collection of cells, or a parasite feeding off her body. They knew it was their daughter, she just hadn’t been born yet.
Admittedly this sounds callous but it’s not my intention. However, the Deavers preferred killing their daughter over allowing her to die with dignity in her mother’s arms. For this baby’s sake, I thank God that this law was in place. Frankly, I don’t see how preferring abortion to death by natural causes is somehow more loving or dignified.
Sifting Reality 
We have good friends who went through this tragedy last year. They knew the baby would not survive and yet carried it to term. She held the baby as it died, but it died with a name and was buried as a child – it did not end up an nameless piles of parts in a dumpster.
Good point, Glenn. Additionally, the baby got to experience the comfort of its mother for 15 minutes (100% of its life). I wonder what she will say to her mother on the other side?
Beautiful…. this heartbreaking story tells the truth about real love. Abortion is not love.
Reblogged this on life of a female bible warrior and commented:
This is an important posting because it gives us the other side of the story from the child’s perspective. It’s a selfless witness and a powerful one.
Reblogged this on My Blog and commented:
Excellent look at the choice of abortion. God bless and thanks to the Warrioress for bringing this blog and post to my attention. And especially thank you to the writer and God bless you!
For some reason this family thinks it would be easier for the family had they killed the baby versus loving it, holding the baby as she died. As tragic as this is it shows a sense of selfishness as well as the tendency for many in today’s society to think avoiding pain at all costs is good. But what is easier may not be the right thing to do. In fact what is easier in the short term may bring you great emotional pain in the long term and what it harder to do may bring you peace in the long term. God Bless.
Teresa, you are 100% right! That’s why I don’t think they really contemplated their wish. They were looking out what they thought was best for them. That is actually a suppression of a very powerful instinct to love and protect your child. Sometimes the right and good thing to do is the one that’s the most difficult. They as parents had a responsibility to love and comfort the child until her passing, the fact that they didn’t want that responsibility is very telling.
Thank you for this article! I am VERY prolife! God bless you for what you do!
Thank you Lyn!
I hope you check out the abortion tab at the top of the page, I make several Prolife arguments. Keep posted, I am currently in a debate on the subject of “Is abortion murder?”. I will post the audio when its ready!
Reblogged this on theconservativehillbilly.
Any decision to have an abortion does not take into account the possibility of danger to the mother (Injury, impotence, various forms of cancer, psycological effects, etc.) in having an abortion rather than allowing a natural birth. Waiting 10 days was far safer.
Thanks Don, Abortion advocates and providers systematically down play the dangers of abortion to women’s body and mind. And they outright lie about the baby inside.
I don’t think you sound callous at all. I don’t know how in the world an abortion would have lessened the tragedy here. Instead, it would have compounded it, by making them responsible for their child’s death. They could live in denial about that for the rest of their lives, maybe, but it would weigh on them all the same. Funny how sin works like that.
Cheers