For Immediate Release: June 21, 2019
Contact: Ryan Hite, Communications Director
St. Louis, MO: The Cleveland Clinic has performed its first ever in-utero fetal surgery to repair a spina bifida birth defect on a 23-week-old baby girl. The procedure was performed earlier this year, and the baby girl was delivered full term in June. This was the first procedure of its kind in Ohio, which just recently passed a Heartbeat protection law.
“Time and again, science proves the reality of human life before birth,” said Ed Martin, president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles. “At the age of 23 weeks when New York, Illinois, and many other states would allow a baby to be killed for any reason, skilled Cleveland Clinic physicians are proving (yet again) that it’s a valuable human life, regardless of size or developmental stage. At 23 weeks old that baby has unique DNA and boundless potential.
“In the very state where Janet Porter started the Heartbeat Bill movement, science leaves little doubt that babies need our voices to speak up. The pro-life groundswell is far from over. Public opposition to abortion is on the rise and state legislatures continue to fight for life in their laws.”
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