StmarysCity79
Well-Known Member
Kelly Shannon was excited when she found out she was pregnant. With a daughter under the age of 2, Shannon and her husband had been actively trying for a second child.
The Alabama couple's happiness quickly turned to heartbreak when testing revealed just three days before Christmas there was an 87% chance the baby had Down syndrome.
However, more scans and test results showed there was evidence of swelling in the baby's head and body wall, a heart defect and a tumor on the baby's abdomen that was about one-third the size of the baby and growing.
A report from her physician that was shared with ABC News confirmed the doctor had "conveyed the high likelihood that the findings may lead to an intrauterine demise [of the fetus] due to heart failure or neonatal demise."
Shannon and her husband decided to pursue termination and she filled out the necessary paperwork. An abortion would need to be approved by several hospital committees made up of doctors.
On Jan. 20, Shannon's specialist called her and informed her that while one committee had approved the abortion, a higher-level committee denied permission, telling Shannon this was the hardest phone call she had to make in her professional career, Shannon said.
This has been the single most painful and traumatic experience of my life and our lives, and anybody who wants to stand up and say that abortions are wrong or that people shouldn't be able to make their own decisions about abortion care just need to recognize that it's not a black and white issue," Shannon said. "It is complicated and I wouldn't wish this on anybody."
abcnews.go.com
The Alabama couple's happiness quickly turned to heartbreak when testing revealed just three days before Christmas there was an 87% chance the baby had Down syndrome.
However, more scans and test results showed there was evidence of swelling in the baby's head and body wall, a heart defect and a tumor on the baby's abdomen that was about one-third the size of the baby and growing.
A report from her physician that was shared with ABC News confirmed the doctor had "conveyed the high likelihood that the findings may lead to an intrauterine demise [of the fetus] due to heart failure or neonatal demise."
Shannon and her husband decided to pursue termination and she filled out the necessary paperwork. An abortion would need to be approved by several hospital committees made up of doctors.
On Jan. 20, Shannon's specialist called her and informed her that while one committee had approved the abortion, a higher-level committee denied permission, telling Shannon this was the hardest phone call she had to make in her professional career, Shannon said.
This has been the single most painful and traumatic experience of my life and our lives, and anybody who wants to stand up and say that abortions are wrong or that people shouldn't be able to make their own decisions about abortion care just need to recognize that it's not a black and white issue," Shannon said. "It is complicated and I wouldn't wish this on anybody."
Alabama mother denied abortion despite fetus' 'negligible' chance of survival
Kelly Shannon, an Alabama mother, said she was denied an abortion by a medical committee, despite her fetus having a "negligible" change of survival.
abcnews.go.com
