A reader writes:
Your reader writes, "There are extreme risks to the health of the mother in allowing an ectopic pregnancy to come to term." I am sure you will hear from people with medical credentials on this, but for what it's worth, let me make the point that it is impossible for an ectopic pregnancy to come to term. An ectopic pregnancy (literally, a pregnancy "out of place") is the result of the implantation of a fertilized egg in the fallopian tube rather than in the womb. A baby cannot develop in the fallopian tube; that's not what it's for, and not what the baby needs. Ectopic pregnancies, if left alone, result inevitably in the rupture of the fallopian tube, the death of the embryo, and possible peritonitis and death for the mother.
This is thus a completely different scenario than those described by readers who aborted seriously defective fetuses at 7 months' gestation, because they thought it would be easier on them and on the baby for the baby to be killed in utero than for it to be born dead or die as a neonate. I find this grotesque--to kill your dying child sooner rather than later? I've had friends who have learned during pregnancy of defects in the fetus that were not compatible with life, and in each case the friends have cherished every moment they had with their unborn children, even as they mourned the fact that this baby would certainly die before, at or soon after birth.Infant death is tragic. It has also been a part of human experience since there have been human beings. Late-term abortion doesn't make that fact go away. It merely means that our handicapped children die at our own hands, rather than simply being taken from us. Isn't it sad enough to lose a child, without adding abortion to the mix?