27 Oct Abortion for Teratogenic Indications After Sally Baltimore had her third child at age 32, she and her husband Mort thought that they had completed their family

Abortion for Teratogenic Indications After Sally Baltimore had her third child at age 32, she and her husband Mort thought that they had completed their family. The Baltimores certainly did not live hand-to-mouth. They managed fairly well on Mr. Baltimore’s construction worker’s salary and what Mrs. Baltimore could make as a sub- stitute teacher. They were shocked when they learned that at 41, Mrs. Balti- more was pregnant again. They were further shocked when after a routine amniocentesis they learned from the obstetrician, Sandra Benton, that the fetus had Down syndrome. This was particularly distressing to Mrs. Baltimore because her step- sister had Down syndrome too. Mrs. Baltimore had firsthand knowledge of what it meant to live in a family who had someone with this diagnosis. She knew that there would probably be multiple operations, hospital stays, and medications since the fetus showed signs of significant cardiac problems as well. She had watched her stepsister suffer after each admission to the hospital. What made it worse is that her stepsister could not make any sense out of all of the trauma even as she reached an age when a "normal" person would have appreciated why the treatment and surgery was neces- sary. She also knew about the sacrifices that the whole family would have to make for many years to come to accommodate the needs of this child. She watched her stepmother and father struggle with her stepsister’s care even though she was now in her late thirties. Given all of this, the Balti- mores thought they just could not put this child or their family through it. Terminating the pregnancy seemed like the best course of action.