Re: Gianna Jessen - Aborted AND alive to tell her story

The producer of the show said that she wanted to open the eyes of people to "the reality of life at that stage," but so far, omitted comment on the reality of the expense in the rehabilitation and rearing of a child with cerebral palsy. When parents bring home a child with cerebral palsy from the hospital, does a check for a *million dollars automatically show up in those parents' mailbox?

In addition to the money what about the stress and pain it's going to take to raise such a child for the parents, especially, and for those close to them. The parents' feelings in the matter never seem to count (as much as the mere presence of an embryo or aborted fetus) for those who try to promote abortion as an evil. Do people who have added stress, day after day, have increased incidence of accidents and disease? Yes, they do just look at the statistics. Why should anyone pay an extra $20 a week (or whatever the co$t is) for their group health insurance premium (HMO) to cover the continually increasing cost of these stress related accidents and medical conditions? I wouldn't.

Yet those who try to bring evidence to show how wonderful it would be to bring a halt to all abortion, do not look at the social consequences of their behavior (i.e. banning abortions). I am not talking about one person here. How many of the 1 in 10,000 who have this malady can actually be rehabilitated? To what degree? And at what cost and to whom? Did you know leg and arm braces along with electric wheelchairs (which cost from $2,000 to $20,000) have to be replaced every few years to correspond to child growth?

I do not see any benefit to having someone travel around the country counseling people not to have abortions, knowing they will cause some women to delay abortion beyond the recommended first 3 months of pregnancy. Or cause a repeat of the cycle that G. Jessen was ultimately the product of, an incompetent abortion. Why are there as many as there are? The scenario on which the t.v. show is based shows how important it is for men and women to be well-educated in contraception, and to be prepared ahead of time to have a very early abortion, if one is necessary.

It seems to me that one thing this t.v. program is trying to imply is that if you are feeling depressed or had a child born with this palsy, then G. Jessen's story is supposed to be an inspiration and make you feel better. This is true only in fantasies inside the mind. Parents or single mothers (or fathers) of these handicapped children face the oppressive isolation from other parents (or people) in the harsh, physical world outside the mind. They bear the emotional burden (a lot of cerebral palsy children/adults don't even know they are a burden), not those who are anti-abortion (..so called pro-life).


*The following information is from http://www.cdc.gov............
What is the cost or economic impact associated with cerebral palsy?

Many people with cerebral palsy need long-term services or care. The average lifetime cost for one person with cerebral palsy is estimated to be $921,000 (in 2003 dollars). This represents costs over and above those experienced by a person who does not have a disability.

It is estimated that the lifetime costs for all people with cerebral palsy who were born in 2000 will total $11.5 billion (in 2003 dollars). These costs include both direct and indirect costs. Direct medical costs, such as doctor visits, prescription drugs, and inpatient hospital stays, make up 10% of these costs. Direct nonmedical expenses, such as home modifications, car modifications, and special education, make up 9% of the costs. Indirect costs, which include the value of lost wages when a person dies early, cannot work, or is limited in the amount or type of work he or she can do, make up 81% of the costs.

These estimates do not include other expenses, such as hospital outpatient visits, emergency department visits, residential care, and family out-of-pocket expenses. The actual economic costs of cerebral palsy are, therefore, even higher than what is reported here.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Economic costs associated with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, and vision impairment --- United States, 2003. MMWR 2004;53:57-9. [Read this article on economic costs]

Tweet