Jennifer McKenna Morbelli (29) died after complications from a late term abortion (33 weeks)

[Nancy Drew]

I have been doing nothing for the past three days except reading/writing about genetic variations that make you predisposed to shit.

I CAN'T GET AWAY FROM IT ANYWHERE

[bowieluva]

Who has been tested and has the gene for being a murderer? Interesting! Not to go off topic, but do you have a link?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=128043329

He wrote a whole book on the topic, too.

[kevansvault]

This just made me ponder something. I know that they've done brainmapping on serial killers/sociopaths. What if (and maybe they have and I'm unaware) they discern a gene that determines someone is predisposed to being violent/a murderer ect. What if the same could be for other traits, such as being gay.

Can you imagine the moral dilemma that so many would be faced with?

Selective birth control like this should be illegal, and this is a little of the feeling I get with this particular abortive procedure. If in fact the baby's prognosis was confirmed to be terminal then perhaps it was the right decision. The problem comes in when prospective moms and dads say "nope, this one's gonna have brown eyes/nope she's going to have webbed toes/sorry, he's going to have seizures. We'll just have to try again after I recover from the procedure." These are all examples of the risks you take when you decide to become a parent, it is not at all a decision to be made lightly - no matter how cool it may look on TLC or 16 and Pregnant. And I'll remind you that how babies turn out as adults has just as much to do with nature as it does with nurture. If you have a genetically perfect child growing up in a fucked up home...you run the risk of having him damaged for life. By the same token, you can have a child who may have some genetic flaw that predisposes him/her to violence but that never becomes an issue because you did right by them as a parent. It's all very confusing and scary as hell sometimes.

[bowieluva]

Selective birth control like this should be illegal, and this is a little of the feeling I get with this particular abortive procedure. If in fact the baby's prognosis was confirmed to be terminal then perhaps it was the right decision. The problem comes in when prospective moms and dads say "nope, this one's gonna have brown eyes/nope she's going to have webbed toes/sorry, he's going to have seizures. We'll just have to try again after I recover from the procedure." These are all examples of the risks you take when you decide to become a parent, it is not at all a decision to be made lightly - no matter how cool it may look on TLC or 16 and Pregnant. And I'll remind you that how babies turn out as adults has just as much to do with nature as it does with nurture. If you have a genetically perfect child growing up in a fucked up home...you run the risk of having him damaged for life. By the same token, you can have a child who may have some genetic flaw that predisposes him/her to violence but that never becomes an issue because you did right by them as a parent. It's all very confusing and scary as hell sometimes.

I completely disagree.

I have a friend who has a psych patient who has spinal bifada and has been trying to kill herself for years. She says she is in constant pain, no one will ever love her, and she wishes her parents had chosen abortion.

Do you think that baby born without a brain should have been born? I don't. I think it's an abomination.

[Ron_NYC]

I completely disagree.

I have a friend who has a psych patient who has spinal bifada and has been trying to kill herself for years. She says she is in constant pain, no one will ever love her, and she wishes her parents had chosen abortion.

Do you think that baby born without a brain should have been born? I don't. I think it's an abomination.

Yea, really. It's not always about the parent's inconvenience.

[Miller22]

I completely disagree.

I have a friend who has a psych patient who has spinal bifada and has been trying to kill herself for years. She says she is in constant pain, no one will ever love her, and she wishes her parents had chosen abortion.

Do you think that baby born without a brain should have been born? I don't. I think it's an abomination.

There have been plenty of days after my diagnosis that I've just wished I would die. The pain, exhaustion and other symptoms can be overwhelming and knowing that there's simply no end to them is beyond harrowing. I have not taken actual steps toward suicide, but I won't lie to say that the thought of death is actually comforting next to the thought of continued like with this illness.

But I was diagnosed 2 years ago. It had nothing to do with my parents. My life hasn't always been sunshine and roses, but I can't say I wish I was aborted. My mother considered it actually (even being a married Catholic), but didn't. I'm the reason she doesn't agree with abortion, yet she still believes in a woman's right to choose.

However, as I said earlier, living my daily life in pain has given me pause. I wouldn't wish this on my enemy. Could I wish it on my child? I probably wouldn't do it, but I can say it would be a very difficult decision.

[kevansvault]

I completely disagree.

I have a friend who has a psych patient who has spinal bifada and has been trying to kill herself for years. She says she is in constant pain, no one will ever love her, and she wishes her parents had chosen abortion.

Do you think that baby born without a brain should have been born? I don't. I think it's an abomination.

Having taken care of babies just like this theoretical one I can see exactly where you are coming from. In my line of work we say "this one really needs her wings." Not because of anything the child did wrong, but because, with good prenatal care, you know about this long before the 32 week...long before..and making a child suffer to be born to a dark, silent world seems like torture. I also understand about patients with spina bifida, I could very easily have turned out that way...my condition and spina bifida go hand in hand and where there is one, you more than likely will see the other. I was just lucky to be born with the lesser of two evils.

Again, until we get further information as to exactly what the true nature of this child's defect/problem was, it is hard to speculate. But as I said, if the prognosis was terminal then perhaps it was the right decision. My questions were also related to the length of time they waited to have the procedure. At 32 weeks, babies are a good size, and can survive outside of the womb. But for all we know, "the baby was going to suffer from seizures" is all the justification that was given for having the abortion...the risky as hell abortion that eventually claimed the life of the mother.

And I'm not saying that it's always about the parent's convenience, what I said was that we live in a society that is quick to make decisions based on limited information...and that can and will lead to problems. In this case though we need more information to see a clearer picture of exactly what happened.

[bowieluva]

I just think anyone who wants an abortion as badly as this woman did probably shouldn't have the child regardless of circumstances. And have you ever read the adoption rates for children with disabilities? Not a lot of aid.

[Fleta]

My opinion is totally pointless in here considering my fiery rage toward children, but anyway...

IF I were to grow an urchin, and IF I didn't immediately abort based solely on my hatred for squalling brats.... I would not hesitate to abort a child with an abnormality that would significantly burden their life. I can't justify continuing care, delivering, and paying all those costs, to adopt out a child with minimal chances of finding a family willing and capable of providing a meaningful life.

Severely disabled people are a drain on society, and I would not object to heading off the problem. Heartless. Duh. But it's important to know that people DO feel this way. Aborting for eye color or sex or sexual orientation? Fuck no, they are normal functioning people, with no drain on society. Just ugly. Or annoying.

[puzzld]

I just realized my earlier post implied I didn't think Jennifer should have had a Catholic funeral. Not what I meant. Just shocked she got one.

Anyway. I'm staunchly pro choice. I'm very much of the opinion that earlier is better than later in most cases. Certainly you should know if you willing to "go through with it" (either parenthood or adoption) by 1/2 way through the pregnancy. But when a serious medical issue crops up, something that going to have a devastating qol impact? Then we need trained, skillful practitioners who can do these procedures with safety and compassion.

[zeebee]

I know someone whose fetus was diagnosed with fetal abnormalities which were incompatible with life. She was not allowed an abortion, she was forced to carry the baby until she went into labor, which was at least a month, possibly two, after the diagnosis. She was around 6 or 7 months pregnant at the time she went into labor. The baby was born and died right after birth. I think it's cruel to force women to go through a pregnancy like this and not allow termination. Just my two cents.

[Fleta]

I know someone whose fetus was diagnosed with fetal abnormalities which were incompatible with life. She was not allowed an abortion, she was forced to carry the baby until she went into labor, which was at least a month, possibly two, after the diagnosis. She was around 6 or 7 months pregnant at the time she went into labor. The baby was born and died right after birth. I think it's cruel to force women to go through a pregnancy like this and not allow termination. Just my two cents.

That is horrible. I can't even imagine. It's difficult to know where to draw the line in these manners, but that is the kind of situation where there should be options. I hope she was able to recover from the psychological trauma.