Hello, Lam.
I'm an old (age 78) lurker here, and I have valued many of the insights you have shared..... I appreciate your compassion and concern on this issue; it does you credit.
But, please look into this more. I am POSITIVE that PBA has never been performed on a whim!
The most common causes of this , I believe, are inability of the foetus to live for many reasons.
Defects that happen to infants are horrendous - organs outside the body; "no brain," no arms or legs or liver, and many more...
I was a young woman when I learned about all this, to my horror. I worked as a sort of secretary at a huge and prestigious general hospital Department of Neuro Peds.
Passing through the maternity area one day, I saw one of the tiny cribs for the neWborns, with a sign, "DO NOT FEED."
I ran to my boss, horrified and disgusted, why such a barbaric practice!
The answer was No Brain.... the back half of the skull did not develop. This infant would likely live 5 or 6 months with normal feeding and care.
It was decided by a committee to terminate this pitiful being as soon as humanely as possible. ( A matter of only days of anguish for the parents; the foetus felt nothing, of course.)
Back then, this sort of tragic condition could not be diagnosed before birth; nowadays, many such tragic conditions can be forestalled - and PBA is the way to avoid a lot of suffering and anguish in such cases.
I hope you will investigate further, Lam. I am pretty sure that what you will learn will help you somewhat to be more at ease in your heart about this.
Best regards, Rosalie
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