{"id":257358,"date":"2021-11-17T17:04:10","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T23:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=257358"},"modified":"2021-11-17T17:04:10","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T23:04:10","slug":"spina-bifida-eloise-defied-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/spina-bifida-eloise-defied-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"Two years after her mother refused abortion, Eloise has defied expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bethan Simpson\u2019s story of refusing to abort her daughter Eloise because she had spina bifida shows that an adverse prenatal diagnosis does not remove the humanity of the precious life involved. All babies deserve to grow into the children they were meant to, and the presence of a disability does not render any human life less worthy of protection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to <\/span>The Daily Mail<\/span><\/a>, the now two-year-old Eloise has defied expectations with what she can do despite being a child with spina bifida.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEloise is now walking fine without any intervention,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cShe doesn\u2019t need any physiotherapy; she can run, jump, spin, climb a flight of stairs, climb tables, use her climbing frame and she\u2019s very sporty.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t believe how well she\u2019s doing given her prognosis; we could never have imagined that she would be how she is now,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As <\/span>Live Action News<\/span><\/a> reported in 2019, Simpson was 20-weeks pregnant when the doctors diagnosed Eloise with <\/span>spina bifida<\/span><\/a>. This condition causes a gap in the spine after the spinal cord fails to develop properly in the womb, and the doctors were quick to recommend abortion at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n