Choosing life at every moment
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS – Thanks to some incredible donors we are able to offer a limited number of FREE tickets to the Pulse Life Seminar! All you have to do is tell us in 25 words or less why you want to come to the Pulse Life Seminar this August. Good luck!!!
We’re always on the look out for new and creative ideas of how we can spread our pro-life message around Australia. Right now we’re designing a new promo video and we want your input!
Submissions are open for scripts for our video and we want to hear your ideas!
Here’s what we’re looking for:
Do you have an awesome idea for the video? Let us know! Submit your script below and we’ll be in touch shortly.
By now you’ve probably heard Eminem’s new song featuring Ed Sheeran, ‘River’ – a heartbreaking confession of a string of regrets. Among them is his remorse for forcing a woman to have an abortion. He talks about his ‘baby’ and ‘that I really woulda’ loved your smile’. He also describes that ending the life of this baby is just ‘one more lie to tell an unborn child’.
What other lies are we telling unborn children and their mothers? Our society tells young, pregnant women that they’re not ready for this baby – that they’re not strong enough or smart enough to raise a child. Our society tells the unborn that they’re not valuable and they’re not worthy of the most basic human right; the right to life.
Just like Eminem’s baby and the mother of that child, we believe that the unborn and their mothers deserve so much better than abortion. You can do this. We don’t want anymore mums and dads hurting because of this irreversible decision.
We all deserve better than abortion.
Having never been attempted before, this involved a caesarean-like operation to partially expose the baby, remove the obstruction, and then return him to the uterus to continue developing for the rest of the pregnancy. The use of muscle relaxants to safely cut open the uterus without inducing pre-term labour, and a chemical solution to replace lost amniotic fluid, allowed for a successful surgery and subsequent continuation of the pregnancy, with the baby continuing to grow.
Unfortunately, kidney and lung damage, which had already occurred prior to diagnosis and surgical repair, was so severe that the baby did not survive after birth, but the attempt at pursuing treatment signalled the first step into the incredible world of foetal surgery. Doctors had shown that it was possible to operate on an unborn child. Within the same year, Dr Harrison went on to successfully treat baby Michael Skinner, who suffered from a similar condition. He became the world’s first survivor of foetal surgery.
Foetal surgery is not without its risks, especially as there are two patients – both the baby and the mother – and so careful consideration on a case-by-case basis is essential. Keeping this in mind, the option to surgically treat an unborn child is a growing reality, offering hope to babies diagnosed with life-threatening conditions or facing the prospect of severe disability if treatment is delayed until they are born. The development of foetoscopic surgery, in which probes and cameras are used to perform the procedure rather than making an open incision, has improved the safety and results of these remarkable procedures.
Today, foetal surgery treats a variety of conditions including congenital diaphragmatic hernia (in which abdominal organs are pushed into the chest cavity, preventing lung development), heart abnormalities, and the removal of tumours. The most famous example is spina bifida, a condition in which the baby’s spinal cord protrudes unprotected from its back, and frequently results in permanent leg and bladder paralysis as well as brain abnormalities. Traditionally spina bifida has been repaired in newborns. A study comparing the outcomes of children who underwent foetal surgery, as opposed to treatment after birth, found that foetal surgery had a significantly lower risk of death and decreased need for later neurological treatment. These children also showed higher rates of independent walking and a greater ability to care for themselves. Excitingly, foetal surgery for spina bifida was performed in Australia for the first time last year at the Mater Mothers’ Hospital in Brisbane.
As our medical technology exponentially improves, so too will the success rates and applicability of foetal surgical techniques. Increasingly, new foetal treatment centres are opening around the world, and the growing frequency of success stories in the media is an uplifting testimony to the fact that many illnesses which may once have been considered a death sentence for the unborn child finally have a therapeutic option. See here for a recent example!
The science is undeniable – an unborn child is a human being. You can call it a foetus, a pre-born human, a Homo sapien or a baby, but they all have the same implication. Why then are we working so hard to perform groundbreaking surgery on some babies but for others we don’t give them a chance at life? Equality begins in the womb, and we want equality for all.
