A Florida woman has to suffer with a doomed baby in her uterus because Republican politicians are all about the cruelty. This is the heartbreaking story of Deborah Derbert who was happily pregnant until a devastating diagnosis that gives her baby no chance of survival. Because of Florida’s 15 week limit on abortion, no Florida doctor could help her. She is now relegated to sitting around pregnant and waiting for the “birth” of a seriously deformed baby doomed to die.
From the Washington Post (paywall)
www.washingtonpost.com/...
Deborah and Lee Dorbert say the most painful decision of their lives was not honored by the physicians they trust. Even though medical experts expect their baby to survive only 20 minutes to a couple of hours, the Dorberts say their doctors told them that because of the new legislation, they could not terminate the pregnancy.
“That’s what we wanted,” Deborah said. “The doctors already told me, no matter what, at 24 weeks or full term, the outcome for the baby is going to be the same.”
More articles on this:
https://www.theledger.com/story/news/local/2023/02/23/despite-fetal-condition-lakeland-woman-cant-terminate-pregnancy/69923707007/
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3871220-parents-worst-nightmare-florida-woman-must-give-birth-despite-baby-having-little-chance-of-survival/
My friend, Dr. Warren Hern of Boulder Abortion Clinic, a specialist in late abortion care, wrote the following to the Washington Post:
Letters to the Editor, The Washington Post, February 24, 2023
The sensitive article about the pain and suffering of the Dorbert family in Florida imposed by the state’s law against abortion illustrated the cruelty and stupidity of these laws. These antiabortion laws interfere with intensely personal family decisions when there are catastrophic fetal abnormalities in a deeply desired pregnancy. For decades, my clinic has helped families like this from across the nation, as have other physicians who offer safe abortion services. Moreover, these services are widely known and are accessible through the internet and the National Abortion Federation, but they are not available in many states.
The Republican Party has been officially opposed to safe, legal abortion since the 1980s, and it has successfully used the abortion issue before that and since then to gain power. Hundreds of laws against abortion have been sponsored by Republican legislators over the past four decades, and the consequences are suffered by women and families such as the Dorberts, as their physicians struggle to help them. As long as Republican politicians such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continue to win elections and hold power, these tragedies will continue. The American people can stop this at the ballot box and make it possible for all American women to receive safe abortions, a fundamental component of women’s health care in the 21st century.
If you’re against abortion, don’t have one, but don’t interfere with other people’s lives, health care or personal decisions.
Warren M. Hern, Boulder, Colo.
The writer, a physician, is director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic.
These mean and cruel abortion laws triggered by the Dobbs decision overruling Roe V. Wade last June are causing widespread harm to women and families who are just trying to live their lives and responsibly grow their families. The Republicans in this country who profess to be “Pro-Life” are anything but that. They believe in life before birth and after death, but not in between.
They are cruel monsters.