A couple whose baby boy was aborted after they were wrongly advised he had a life-limiting condition are seeking an urgent meeting with the Minister for Health after settling their High Court action against Merrion Fetal Health and the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street.
The parents, who named their unborn baby Christopher, said in a statement afterwards that nothing will ever take away the “interminable sadness and grief” they live with every day.
In court documents, Christopher’s mother said she had experienced an all-consuming physical and mental trauma ever since the abortion and every aspect of her life had been adversely affected by the horror of having unnecessarily terminated her son’s life. She said she had been left with a devastating sense of loss, which could not be filled.
She also claimed the management of her pregnancy was grossly substandard and displayed utter genetic illiteracy culminating in the tragic ending of her son’s life. Christopher’s father said he will carry the painful loss of his son with him throughout his life.
Following this week’s settlement, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín TD called for a public inquiry into the case. He said he had spoken to Christopher’s parents on many occasions and that changes needed to happen to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.
The appalling case which led to baby Christopher’s death raises another very serious question – how many other babies have lost their lives under Ireland’s new abortion law as a result of parents being given a misdiagnosis regarding the health of their baby? What assurances can the Minister for Health give to women and parents that the baby Christopher case was an isolated case since the law took effect in 2019. The Minister for Health cannot hide from his responsibility to answer this and other related questions.
When parents came forward prior to the abortion referendum with horrifying stories involving misdiagnoses, they were ignored by politicians and large sections of the media out of fear these testimonies might influence the abortion debate in a way they didn’t want to see happen. This type of closed thinking and refusal to entertain other perspectives contributed in no small way to tragedies like the one before the High Court this week.
Compelling peer reviewed research by Anette Kersting, Kristin Kroker and others showing the negative psychological impact of abortion on women in cases of foetal anomaly was also brushed aside by politicians and journalists who didn’t want to disturb their carefully choreographed narrative in favour of abortion.
Every day new stories emerge highlighting the unspeakable betrayal of these politicians and journalists in pushing abortion. As pro-life activists and volunteers, we have a responsibility to inform and educate the public about what’s going on, using every means at our disposal.
This week’s proceedings in the High Court was against five consultants, Peter McParland, Fionnuala McAuliffe, Rhona Mahony, Shane Higgins and Stephen Carroll, operating under a business partnership called Merrion Fetal Health; the National Maternity Hospital and a laboratory, the Greater Glasgow Health Board. Liability was admitted by the defendants in the case, leading to the settlement that occurred.
