Your gift counts double until 5/31: $24,002 to go in our Easter Campaign. Please help now!

New York Times reports on selective abortion of twins

CWN - August 12, 2011

The New York Times carries a truly chilling report on women who, discovering that they are pregnant with twins, choose to destroy one of the babies in order to ensure an easier pregnancy--and an easier life.

The Times reporter is curious why many women are reluctant to speak openly about the procedure:

What is it about terminating half a twin pregnancy that seems more controversial than reducing triplets to twins or aborting a single fetus?

That rhetorical question assumes that abortion itself is not particularly controversial. But it also assumes, incredibly, that "reducing triplets" is not the same thing as abortion. The reporter writes that with twins, the challenge is "choosing to extinguish one of two healthy fetuses, almost as if having half an abortion." [emphasis added]

To complicate the moral issues involved, the Times notes that some of the women who are pregnant with twins had taken fertility drugs, thereby increasing the likelihood of that result.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($24,002 to go):
$80,000.00 $55,997.55
30% 70%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

Show 3 Comments? (Hidden)Hide Comments
  • Posted by: Gaby - Aug. 14, 2011 9:34 AM ET USA

    A very disturbing article. What stands out is how the decision to 'reduce' is dominated by a desire for CONTROL over their life, and FEAR that this will be lost with twins. These people went to great lengths to have a baby & are willing to go to even greater length (morally speaking) to get just that: ONE baby. Ethics don't stand a chance in the face of this "design-your-life-down-to-the-last-detail" mindset. The comments are telling: even pro-choicers find this abhorent.

  • Posted by: kmbold - Aug. 13, 2011 12:54 PM ET USA

    I heard a pro-life young woman speak of being a twin who survived an abortion. Her mother had not known she was pregnant with twins and had an abortion. Only later was it determined that there was another child still in utero. The mother gave live birth to this child and now they are both giving witness to the evil of abortion and the wonder of life. The living twin told us that she had always had an almost haunting sense that someone very near her was missing.

  • Posted by: hartwood01 - Aug. 12, 2011 6:15 PM ET USA

    Don't you love the words "reducing","terminating" and "extinguishing" in place of murder? Words found in Satan's vocabulary.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

The Rise and Fall of the (American?) Church 11 hours ago
The Ideal of Pope Francis: the Servant Church 19 hours ago
The sad decline of self-government May 22
That impromptu exorcism again May 22
The Mystery of the Spirit May 21

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8