{"id":1582197,"date":"2022-08-01T08:01:08","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T12:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1582197"},"modified":"2022-08-01T08:01:31","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T12:01:31","slug":"medical-care-for-the-teeniest-patients-keeps-getting-better-despite-the-lefts-abortion-obsession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/medical-care-for-the-teeniest-patients-keeps-getting-better-despite-the-lefts-abortion-obsession\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical Care For The Teeniest Patients Keeps Getting Better Despite The Left\u2019s Abortion Obsession"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmedical-care-for-the-teeniest-patients-keeps-getting-better-despite-the-lefts-abortion-obsession%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1582197&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A recent front page of\u00a0The Hartford Courant\u00a0had an interesting juxtaposition. The headline\u00a0under the masthead\u00a0read,\u00a0\u201cAbortion Joins Top Election Issues,\u201d a reference to developments after the Supreme Court\u00a0<em>Dobbs<\/em>\u00a0ruling\u00a0on June 24\u00a0reversing\u00a0<em>Roe v. Wade<\/em>. Immediately below this headline appeared another article, \u201cCutting-edge care for the tiniest patients,\u201d an account of the new fetal surgery center opening at Connecticut Children\u2019s Hospital in Hartford.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now, the front-page editor at\u00a0The Courant might be clueless \u2014 or more likely\u00a0just\u00a0have a wry sense of irony. The two stories on page one could not be\u00a0more\u00a0dissonant. One tells how the choice to end human life in the womb may once again be a political football. The other sets forth how the most dramatic developments in medicine are leading to the recognition that children in the womb are candidates for care \u2014 including lifesaving surgery \u2014 that was unthinkable a few short\u00a0decades\u00a0ago. In fact, these developments are so rapid that children\u2019s hospitals across the nation have been opening separate fetal surgery units.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The medical and scientific skill and acumen involved are stunning. This perinatal revolution is one of the great advances in patient care in the past few decades. The world\u2019s attention to this revolution was first riveted by a photograph of fetal surgery performed on 21-week-old Samuel\u00a0Armas\u00a0in 1999. This picture made its way \u2014 and some waves \u2014 around the world, revealing\u00a0tiny Samuel\u2019s fist grasping the finger of the surgeon as he began to\u00a0close up\u00a0the incision into his mother\u2019s womb. A set of photos of Samuel in subsequent years can be seen at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justthefacts.org\/samuel-armas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a website<\/a>\u00a0maintained by photographer Michael Clancy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Today, the array of procedures that can be performed to help the unborn patient in the womb continues to grow, and the stage of pregnancy at which these\u00a0procedures can be performed\u00a0is earlier and earlier. Prenatal surgical repair of spina bifida, a condition in which the unborn child\u2019s developing spinal cord is exposed, subjecting the child to debilitating injury, was initiated in 1997, and by\u00a02010,\u00a0the\u00a0Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS)\u00a0definitively demonstrated superior outcomes to postnatal surgery. Twin-to-twin\u00a0transfusion syndrome surgery has been successfully performed as early as 15 weeks of gestation with\u00a0fetoscopic\u00a0laser ablation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Massive Growth in the Field<\/h2>\n<p>These and other procedures have contributed to the abolition of the \u201cviability standard\u201d of 24 to 28 weeks of gestation cited in the 1973\u00a0<em>Roe<\/em>\u00a0decision. Overall viability of unborn children\u00a0has been affected via these medical advances so that\u00a0babies\u00a0born\u00a0at 22 and even 21 weeks of gestation \u2014 barely halfway through pregnancy \u2014 are\u00a0surviving and\u00a0enjoying better health when they do.\u00a0According to a Duke University\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/26900775\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a>, mortality of extremely premature infants declined from 55 percent to 42 percent between 1998 and 2011 and neurodevelopmental impairment among surviving infants\u00a0declined from 68 percent to 47 percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Because of these advances, the number of fetal care centers and maternal-fetal specialists has exploded across the nation. In\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.naftnet.org\/naftnet-members\/naftnet-centers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2022<\/a>\u00a0there are 37 dedicated U.S. medical centers\u00a0across the United States\u00a0that perform advanced in-utero fetal therapeutic procedures. These centers\u00a0are located in\u00a021 states and 31 cities. Of course, not all babies at the\u00a0fetal\u00a0stage of development can be helped. To support families coping with the imminent loss of such a child,\u00a0there are now 121 perinatal hospices across the country. These programs are a subspecialty of maternal-fetal medicine, treating the unborn like any other patient whose life is invaluable but cannot be saved. Over 70 percent of the\u00a0programs\u00a0were created in the last 10 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lozierinstitute.org\/fact-sheet-the-growth-of-maternal-fetal-medicine-and-fetal-care-centers-in-the-united-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) specialty<\/a>\u00a0is intense, with high stakes, dramatic changes, and high rewards. In\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/22773289\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2010<\/a>\u00a0there were 1,355 MFM specialists in the United States;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smfm.org\/members\/search\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">now<\/a>\u00a0there are 1,587. These practitioners exist in all but\u00a0one\u00a0state\u00a0(Wyoming), and the increases in some locales\u00a0over the past decade\u00a0are as high as 600 percent (Virginia) and 400 percent (District of Columbia).\u00a0Nationwide, there is\u00a0approximately\u00a0one MFM specialist for every\u00a014 general obstetrician-gynecologists and for every\u00a02,277\u00a0births.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Celebrating Life<\/h2>\n<p>These facts underscore how the scientific and medical reality has changed since 1973.\u00a0The contrast is too vivid to ignore.\u00a0Each year what began as a small event in a conference room at the Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia has expanded into a mega-event\u00a0called the Fetal Family Reunion. The\u00a0joy-filled\u00a0gathering\u00a0of children whose lives were\u00a0saved through groundbreaking in utero medical treatment\u00a0was held again this summer, on June 5, only this time the rising number of participants necessitated\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chop.edu\/events\/fetal-family-reunion\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">moving the event<\/a>\u00a0to the Philadelphia Zoo.\u00a0Parents and children numbering well over 3,000 came together to celebrate the care they\u00a0and their children\u00a0received at the center\u00a0affectionately\u00a0known as CHOP.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 2022 and beyond, this is the crossroads at which\u00a0our nation\u00a0stands. Will\u00a0we\u00a0see abortion as a political issue, a power struggle in the culture over who shall live, or will\u00a0we\u00a0witness the steady advance of medical miracles\u00a0on\u00a0behalf of our smallest brothers and sisters? \u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Charles A. \u201cChuck\u201d Donovan is president of Charlotte Lozier Institute. He has worked in the pro-life movement since 1971.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent front page of\u00a0The Hartford Courant\u00a0had an interesting juxtaposition. The headline\u00a0under the masthead\u00a0read,\u00a0\u201cAbortion Joins Top Election Issues,\u201d a reference to developments after the Supreme Court\u00a0Dobbs\u00a0ruling\u00a0on June 24\u00a0reversing\u00a0Roe v. Wade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1207,"featured_media":1897857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1582197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_finder_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/01\/medical-care-for-the-teeniest-patients-keeps-getting-better-despite-the-lefts-abortion-obsession\/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=medical-care-for-the-teeniest-patients-keeps-getting-better-despite-the-lefts-abortion-obsession","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1582197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1582197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1582197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1897857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1582197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1582197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1582197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}