A woman in the UK is suing a hospital for failing to screen her unborn son for Down Syndrome.
Had she known he had the condition, the lawsuit claims, she would’ve had an abortion.
As reported by the Mirror, Edyta Mordel is attempting to hold the National Health Service accountable for the live birth of her son to the tune of £200,000.
Per the suit, the “wrongful birth…increased financial costs of caring for her son and for the impact on her own ability to work.”
4-year-old Aleksander was born in January of 2015 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. Hospital records reveal Edyta was “very angry and upset” upon being made aware of the baby’s condition.
According to her claim, doctors failed to administer testing which would’ve detected DS, despite the fact that she insisted. Purportedly, she even noted the need for such examination during her first meeting with a midwife.
Edyta believed the evaluation was performed at her 12-week appointment, though medical documentation speaks to the contrary.
As relayed by the Daily Mail, she appealed to London’s High Court thusly:
“I knew from the start I would agree on the Down’s syndrome screening, and I would not make any other decision. I was always sure about the decision, and I always wanted it. I spoke with the midwife about Down Syndrome screening. I had informed myself. I watched a lot of videos and read about screening.”
Her attorney insists both she and her partner — Aleksander’s father — would’ve “terminated the pregnancy.”
However, legal representatives for NHS contend that she declined the test and later regretted it.
More, from lawyer Michael de Navarro QC:
“Not only did her copy of the handheld notes contain the scan report saying that Down’s screening had been declined, but she must have realized that she had never had the result of screening which she had been told to expect.”
National Right to Life President Carol Tobias had something to say about the situation — to The Daily Caller:
“If a mother does not want to care for her precious little one, we would encourage her to let a loving family adopt and raise him, helping him to reach his full potential. And, no, a hospital should not be sued for bringing this innocent little one into the world.”
In terms of the Western culture at large, Edyta’s disposition — though shocking — isn’t such an outlier: Earlier in the year, New York approved the murder of infants mere seconds before they’re born (here); and Virginia’s governor is cool with them being murdered after birth (here).
But undoubtedly the most apt response to this story is a video shared by Ashton Kutcher in January.
Don’t miss its incredible power:
https://www.facebook.com/Ashton/videos/394906924596934/
-ALEX
Relevant RedState links in this article: here, here, and here.
See 3 more pieces from me:
Find all my RedState work here.
And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.
Thank you for reading! Please sound off in the Comments section below.
If you have an iPhone and want to comment, select the box with the upward arrow at the bottom of your screen; swipe left and choose “Request Desktop Site.” If it fails to automatically refresh, manually reload the page. Scroll down to the red horizontal bar that says “Show Comments.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member