A Sad Story

There’s a heart breaking story in the USA Today, Woman is kept alive to save unborn baby.

It turns out that this couple was expecting their second baby when the mother started having some nausea, etc, that she shrugged off as normal morning sickness. One night during dinner, she seemed to stop functioning. The husband restarted her breathing, and they found a cancerous tumor in her brain. Now she’s being kept alive because the unborn baby inside her seems to still be thriving. The woman’s body has fought off pnuemonia and a high fever, and the doctors think that if she can stay functioning through artificial means for another month, the baby may be able to be born prematurely and fine.

I can’t imagine what the husband is going through. He has to explain to his oldest (I think they said he was 3) why mommy is still in the hospital. He said that he hates using his wife’s body for no more than a husk, but believes that life is precious. It’s interesting, because we always hear in the debates– abortion is ok to save the life of the mother, and I’ve been personally wrestling with this one for a while. Here’s a case where the baby is being kept alive by the mother’s brain dead body.

The sad part is that, as Roman Catholics, the husband/wife don’t seem to have the grounding required to survive this. The best they can do is some kind of talk about good being poured out other places because of this thing happening! The response would probably be the same as mine– could you write down those other people or places that are benefiting?! As born again believers, we know that God is in control of everything, that our sin is the source cause of all the bad things that are happening in this world, and that God works all things together for good for those who are the called according to His purpose. Doesn’t mean bad things don’t happen, but it does mean that we have a God who is in control.