An American mother diagnosed with cancer at 20 weeks pregnant chose life after doctors advised her to abort her daughter.
Ten years on, Sarah Wickline Hull posted her story on Facebook, which went viral. She encouraged mothers to get a second opinion if a doctor suggests abortion.
In the UK, abortion is currently permitted for most reasons up to 24 weeks, and up to birth if the unborn child is deemed to have a disability or severe health condition, or the mother’s health is at serious risk.
‘I stood my ground’
Sarah wrote: “I was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer that was cutting off my airway at 20 weeks of pregnancy. I will never forget when the first doctor, an oncologist, mentioned abortion.
“Then, I met with another doctor who listed all of the problems the baby would have if I did not terminate. I stood my ground and refused. He said, ‘That is ok. The baby will probably spontaneously abort anyway.'”
After finding a doctor who supported her in carrying her baby to term, Sarah gave birth at 34 weeks to her daughter, who is now a “healthy, beautiful, bright, precious 10 year old”.
Both lives matter
In June, MPs approved Antonia Antoniazzi’s New Clause 1, an amendment to the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill, which will allow a woman in England and Wales to kill her unborn baby at any stage of pregnancy without sanction.
A number of MPs spoke against decriminalisation, including the TUV’s Jim Allister, who asked “whether there is any other area of law governing the taking of life in which the guardrails of the criminal law have been removed? That is what New Clause 1 proposes when it comes to the voiceless child. Is there no thought of protection for them?”
Labour’s Rachael Maskell urged MPs to “consider the baby’s safety as much as the woman’s safety”, while Carla Lockhart (DUP) told the House: “I believe that both lives matter in every pregnancy — both the mum’s life and the child’s life.”
The Crime and Policing Bill is being debated for the first time in the House of Lords today.
Babies receiving insufficient care after failed abortions in Ireland