I got this off of The Corner at NRO:
From Justin Torres, Susan's brother in law (written before her daughter's birth and her death): In
this midst of this tragedy and the grief that lingers like a context,
like a fog, over every conversation and meal and moment in the
hospital, we have hope. Doctors believe that they may be able to save
this baby, keeping Susan alive long enough to deliver the child
prematurely. It is no more than a fighting chance, far less than a
certainty, that the baby will live. But we have hope. Keeping this baby
alive is Susan's last act of love, one that has been tremendously
moving to watch even as it makes you question everything you thought
you knew about the fundamental justice of the world.
But this is where abortion, and the utilitarian mindset that
it engenders concerning the sanctity of human life, steals its way into
this tragedy. I think of it as "the moment," the little whisper of
hesitation, shared not just by the doctors but even by my family. It's
the moment in which you think, is this right? Are we doing the right
thing? Wouldn't it just be better to let go, start over, find closure?
Once the soothing clichés start, it is difficult to make them stop. You
have to force yourself to remember: this is a child's life. And
children are always a good thing, devoutly to be wished for and
fiercely to be fought for.
For my family, the moment was no more than a hiccup. Still, it
is clear that for some of the doctors involved in this case, the
decisions my brother and Susan's parents have made are foolish. That is
the effect of abortion: that it has in various, subtle ways sapped the
intrinsic human impulse to fight for the good of children.
I don't wish to be too harsh, and I certainly do not wish to
suggest that these doctors - many of whom have taken enormous and
personal interest in Susan's case - are in any way agents of the
culture of death. These doctors are trained to assess chances and
deploy resources where they are most effective. I respect that. We are
here to fight; it's their job to tell us the truth and give us their
realistic assessment. And many of them are fighting alongside us, to my
immense gratitude.
But I wonder. Fifty years ago, medicine could not have done
what we are trying to do. But I suspect that if it could have been
done, no one then would have hesitated. The answer would have been, Of
course, we must try to save the child, because saving children is what
medicine is meant to do.
Thirty years after Roe, we have not yet fully come to understand all
the ways that abortion has distorted our culture, coarsened it, made it
less loving and less noble. The moment of hesitation I describe is the
culture of death whispering insinuations at us. It is important that we
continue to shout truth from the rooftops to drown out its voice.
By the way David, sisters aren't cloistered, nuns are (wink!), and yes, there is a difference.
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