On Wednesday, CNN published an article that could make even the staunchest pro-abortion advocate reconsider their convictions.
CNN reported the fantastic news that the "most premature" baby to be born (21 weeks and four days), is now three years old and, according to all the tests and measurements by doctors, perfectly healthy.
See the tweet and article below.
Born before 22 weeks, 'most premature' baby is now thriving: https://t.co/kXyJsPcaUD pic.twitter.com/TidSMkFhzw
— CNN Health (@cnnhealth) November 8, 2017
When Courtney Stensrud had her baby, a neonatologist recommended she not resuscitate her child as the odds were stacked against her. The neonatologist explained that the earlier a baby is born, their rate of surviving drops dramatically.
Though the neonatologist was skeptical, it didn't mean that Stensrud couldn't fight for her child.
Stensrud told CNN:
Although I was listening to him, I just felt something inside of me say, 'Just have hope and have faith.' It didn't matter to me that she was 21 weeks and 4 days. I didn't care. As he was talking to me, I just said, 'Will you try?' And he said he would, and three years later, we have our little miracle baby.
I don't tell her story a lot, but when I do, people are amazed. If there's another woman in antepartum that is searching Google, they can find this story and they can find a little bit of hope and a little bit of faith.
In 15 states, and in Washington, D.C., Stensrud's child could have been aborted. According to the Guttmacher Institute, seven states along with Washington, D.C. have no restrictions on abortion, seven others allow abortion up until 24 weeks, and one allows for an abortion as long as it is not in the third trimester. In the picture shown in the article, the baby girl is three weeks old (what would have been 25 weeks into the pregnancy). Alaska, Colorado, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Virginia would have allowed for her abortion. If Stensrud were in any one of these 15 states, and if she wanted to, five days before the birth of her child she could have had an abortion. Her child would have been 20 weeks and 6 days old.
Last month, the House passed a bill called the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act which bans abortions at 20-weeks past conception, as that is when medical research has shown a baby can feel pain. That bill was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Lindsey Graham and is awaiting a vote.
As medical technology continues to improve and the threshold of viability shifts to earlier weeks, one hopes to hear more miraculous stories like the Stensruds.
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