Tiny 'dead' Baby Wakes Before His Funeral

Tiny Dead Preemie Baby Wakes Before His Funeral by Mary Kretzmann This is a remarkable story of survival of a tiny infant, just a little over a pound. I’m posting it (below) simply to help keep our hearts open to the humanity and personhood of these tiny ones. This size of baby is still legally aborted…because they are considered less than human – and not worthy of life and protection, if the mother deems that to be so. Thus, the [Judiciary] Committee observes that no significant legal barriers of any kind whatsoever exist today in the United States for a woman to obtain an abortion for any reason during any stage of her pregnancy.1 May our hearts soften in love and compassion, and may women revere the power of life within them. And may we find more options for women who find themselves in unfortunate circumstances. There is so much polarity these days about abortion, and in the arguments there are intelligent people who argue the baby is not quite human and is not to be legally protected. That is where our society stands right now. Oh dear… but there is a natural goodness in women, when they see the humanity of their babies. I read that when women see a sonogram of their baby before an abortion, over 75% decide not to have the abortion. So – that means another solution was found, once the reality of the baby was seen. In some ways, the biggest question on this may not really be “legal/illegal” –but rather, are our eyes open or closed? And what about our hearts? For the will of the people flows through their deepest feelings. And right now, the will of the people says this: “If the mother does not want the baby within her, then she is free to kill it. Even if the father should want his child, she is still free to kill it. The woman’s body, and her feelings, are ‘god’ in this matter.” Some people say they want “god” and religion out of the abortion question – but they have simply substituted this new “god.” In ancient days, the power of woman, for the ability to bring life, was “worshiped.” And even in more recent times, the woman was at least respected and revered, for this same power. But now it appears that feminine power is more worshiped in protecting her right to end that life. In fact, pleas for compassion on the life of unborn babies is often seen as an assault on “feminism.” I don’t see an easy way out – because if most people feel it is okay to kill unborn babies, simply because the mother wants it – then our hearts are hard indeed. And the more our culture supports it, the harder our hearts must become, of necessity, or else we would be tormented by conscience. There is plenty of evidence of the humanity of unborn babies…but people must blind their eyes, so as not to see it. If our hearts and scientific minds are truly opened, then it begs another answer. I applaud any move in the direction away from such hardness of hearts. It may come piecemeal. I imagine it will take time. For now, my greatest hope is in helping families pass

on this respect of life. The question of abortion has always existed. Why else would Hippocrates have said, in his oath for all physicians, “…I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art…” Hippocrates Since the legalization of abortion in many Western countries, the antiabortion sentence of the Hippocratic oath has sometimes been dropped from the text. That is indeed a pity, for it would suggest we are becoming less civilized, rather than more so.

A 12th-century Byzantine Oath

Indeed, the much more recent The Declaration of Geneva (1948) states, in response to the heavy use of abortion and sterilization by the Nazi regime against eastern peoples: “I WILL MAINTAIN the utmost respect for human life, from the time of conception; even under threat, I will not use my medical knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity.” The Declaration of Geneva So, I simply place here my plea for humanity. No more, no less. “…But Jesus said unto them, For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment…” Mark 10:5

‘Dead’ baby wakes before funeral A premature baby declared dead by doctors at a hospital in Paraguay was found to be alive hours later when he was taken home for a funeral wake. According to medical records, the baby weighed only17.6 oz (500 g). The smallest on record was an American baby who weighed just 10 oz, born at less than 22 weeks. A doctor who works at the hospital’s maternity unit said staff had tried to revive the baby for an hour before declaring him dead. “His pulse was so low that it was undetectable,” Aida Notario said. Jose Alvarenga said he had discovered his son was alive after he heard crying from the box in which he was placed. The baby is now back at the same hospital’s intensive care unit and reported to be in a stable condition… “This is a very unusual case,” Ernesto Weber told the AFP news agency, adding that an investigation into the incident would be carried out. Original BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8191023.stm

Also see:

When Does the Soul Enter the Body?

By Mary Kretzmann

Finding God in Your Family http://findinggodinyourfamily.wordpress.com/

More stories on pre-term births: James Elgin Gill (born on 20 May 1987 in Ottawa, Canada) was the earliest premature baby in the world. He was 128 days premature (21 weeks and 5 days gestation) and weighed 1 pound 6 ounces (624 g). He survived and is quite healthy. The world’s smallest premature boy to survive was born in June 2004 at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey. Tyler Martin was born at 23 weeks with weight of 320 grams (11 ounces). Historical figures who were born prematurely include Johannes Kepler (born in 1571 at 7 months gestation), Isaac Newton (born in 1643, small enough to fit into a quart mug, according to his mother), Winston Churchill (born in 1874 at 7 months gestation), and Anna Pavlova (born in 1885 at 7 months gestation).