An American father has shared how doctors immediately changed their language when they thought his unborn baby might have a tumour on his heart.
Writing for The Gospel Coalition, Darren Carlson explained that throughout his wife’s pregnancy, doctors referred to their unborn son as “your child”.
But when the tumour-like lump showed up on an ultrasound at five months, doctors then began calling him “the fetus”.
‘Management problem’
Darren recalled how doctors and ultrasound technicians described the development of their baby from the scans, using terms like “your child’s hand” and “your child’s heart”.
But when the growth was detected “something changed”.
“In the doctor’s eyes, our fetus was a child again. In our eyes, nothing had changed.”
The doctor said: “If the fetus is abnormal and that is a management problem for you, you have options.”
To Darren, the message was clear: “The baby my wife was carrying was only a child if we wanted to keep it.”
U-turn
Three weeks later Darren and his wife returned for another ultrasound.
It was revealed that the growth on their son’s heart was not in fact a tumour, but a normal variant, part of his healthy development.
Darren said: “In the doctor’s eyes, our fetus was a child again. In our eyes, nothing had changed.”
Pray, debate, engage
More than 55 million abortions have been carried out in the US since 1973.
Darren also commented on the abortion industry in the US, noting: “There were more than 4,000 abortions in the United States the day we were given the option to add one more.”
He stressed that Christians have a duty to pray for, and debate and engage with, those trying to remove protections from unborn life.
“We cannot do too much for this cause.”
It is estimated that more than 55 million abortions have been carried out in the US since the Roe v Wade case in 1973.