{"id":304324,"date":"2023-12-30T12:55:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-30T18:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=304324"},"modified":"2024-09-20T12:36:18","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T17:36:18","slug":"trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents of children with Trisomy 18 outraged over media’s false reporting"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Parents of children with Trisomy 18 are outraged over the media’s false reporting of the condition amid the headline-dominating case of a Texas woman who sued the state, claiming she needed a “medically necessary” abortion after her child with diagnosed with the genetic condition.<\/p>\n

Kate Cox has been at the center of media headlines<\/a> for weeks as she was pregnant with a child diagnosed with Trisomy 18, or Edward’s syndrome, and chose to go out of state for an abortion after losing her lawsuit against Texas.<\/p>\n

No longer ‘incompatible with life’<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cox’s child was declared “incompatible with life,” simply because she had Trisomy 18 — often due to outdated studies<\/a> from data at least 20 years old. Trisomy 18 has not been considered “incompatible with life” since 2019, and research is proving that children with Trisomy 18 can survive<\/a> as long as they are given the medical care they need.<\/p>\n

Research<\/a> out of the University of Michigan\u2019s Mott Children\u2019s Hospital has revealed that by \u201ctaking an aggressive approach to treatment, 90% of babies born with Edwards syndrome can go home from the hospital, and their five-year survival rate can reach close to 77%.\u201d Trisomy 18 families in Michigan are frustrated at how Cox’s story has been portrayed by the media.<\/p>\n

\"Trisomy

CC Calleja with her siblings and mother. Photo courtesy of Jewels Calleja. Do not reprint.<\/p><\/div>\n

Media reports have been ‘hurtful’<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an article published by the Detroit Free Press<\/a>, multiple families of children with Trisomy 18 have said the Cox case has been hurtful and has further perpetuated negative stereotypes towards children with Trisomy 18 — who can live if they are given the chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I read the articles about the Kate Cox case, the language that was used to describe Trisomy 18 \u2014 \u201cnot viable,\u201d \u201clethal,\u201d \u201cfetal anomaly with virtually no chance of survival\u201d \u2014 it really impacted me,\u201d Jewel Calleja said. \u201cBecause it’s false information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calleja’s daughter, CC, is four years old, has Trisomy 18, and has begun walking with the help of a walker. The Detroit Free Press noted that, while Trisomy 18 can cause respiratory failure, heart defects, club feet, and intellectual impairment, it is no longer a presumed death sentence, as “[h]earts can be fixed; airways can be opened.”<\/p>\n

Pressure to abort<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet moms are rarely given this information; to the contrary, they are often given worst-case scenarios and pressured to have an abortion, as Melissa Fox recounted. The Detroit Free Press reported, “That day, six years ago, the doctor told Fox that he\u2019d never delivered a Trisomy 18 baby, but that one of his colleagues did once, and the child was born with no bones. It just came out in a puddle, he said. A lie? An old wives’ tale he actually believed?”<\/p>\n

\"Trisomy

CC Calleja and her father. Photo courtesy of Jewels Calleja. Do not reprint.<\/p><\/div>\n

But the story got worse; after Fox said she did not want an abortion, she was called in for an “emergency appointment,” at which the consent paperwork for an abortion was printed and ready for her to sign. The papers were backdated by one day, to satisfy Michigan’s 24-hour waiting period requirement, and the doctor had already signed them. \u201cI got your golden ticket,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is my gift to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox still refused to go through with the abortion, and every doctor she saw refused to promise they would give her child medical care after birth. \u201cI think it was probably 32 weeks when I finally realized they\u2019re not going to help me,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to keep this baby alive.\u201d One neonatologist even told Fox it would be a waste of time and money; others, including a heart surgeon, said they weren’t willing to do anything for a child who was “destined to die.”<\/p>\n

Fighting for life<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eventually, Fox made her way to Mott Children’s, where everything was different. “There’s a lot of misinformation about a lot of those outcomes,\u201d Dr. Collin Smith, a resident, said. Just five years ago, in medical school, Smith was told that babies with Trisomy 18 could not survive for longer than a year. \u201cAnd I\u2019m finding that that\u2019s not the case,\u201d he said. \u201cWe’re finding that with the proper support early on in life, we can really give them a great quality of life after they make it through the acute period.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Trisomy

CC Calleja and her family. Photo courtesy of Jewels Calleja. Do not reprint.<\/p><\/div>\n

READ: Fact checking the fact checkers regarding Lila Rose\u2019s Trisomy 18 social media post<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Another mom, Jennifer Lo Tiempo, was told her baby would not be able to breathe after birth; at birth, though, her son Danny was crying loudly. He’s now in third grade and thriving. \u201cWe were told that he would never even know who we are, that he would never know love,\u201d Lo Tiempo said. \u201cThat is the most loving kid. He just knows love and he just knows happiness and I wouldn\u2019t trade a single second.”<\/p>\n

These families have begun fighting back, wanting to prove that the narrative — one perpetuated by Cox and the media — is wrong. Not only are their children capable of life, they are deserving<\/em> of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a community that has banded together and become a family,\u201d Lo Tiempo said. \u201cI love the fact that we\u2019re able to give hope to these other families, and other families come to me and say that Danny inspired them to fight for their child. That is the best thing that anybody has ever said to me [in] my entire life. That my boy can inspire somebody else to give their kid a chance when all the doctors are saying don\u2019t bother.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DOJ put a pro-life grandmother in jail this Christmas for protesting the killing of preborn children. Please take 30 seconds to TELL CONGRESS: STOP THE DOJ FROM TARGETING PRO-LIFE AMERICANS.<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parents of children with Trisomy 18 are outraged over the media’s false reporting of the condition amid the headline-dominating case of a Texas woman who sued the state, claiming she needed a “medically necessary” abortion after her child with diagnosed with the genetic condition. Kate Cox has been at the center of media headlines for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":304398,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[15,20722,3473,9459],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nParents of children with Trisomy 18 outraged over media's false reporting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Families of children with Trisomy 18 say recent headlines are hurtful and perpetuate negative stereotypes of children with Trisomy 18.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parents of children with Trisomy 18 outraged over media's false reporting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Families of children with Trisomy 18 say recent headlines are hurtful and perpetuate negative stereotypes of children with Trisomy 18.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-30T18:55:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-20T17:36:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/via.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\"},\"headline\":\"Parents of children with Trisomy 18 outraged over media’s false reporting\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-30T18:55:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-20T17:36:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/\"},\"wordCount\":1000,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Analysis\",\"Fact Checks\",\"Newsbreak\",\"Top Story on Homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/\",\"name\":\"Parents of children with Trisomy 18 outraged over media's false reporting\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-30T18:55:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-20T17:36:18+00:00\",\"description\":\"Families of children with Trisomy 18 say recent headlines are hurtful and perpetuate negative stereotypes of children with Trisomy 18.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Parents of children with Trisomy 18 outraged over media’s false reporting\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\",\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cassy Cooke\"},\"description\":\"Cassy has over 20 years of experience as a writer and editor, most of which have been spent covering pro-life issues like abortion, disability rights, euthanasia, and more.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/cassy-fiano\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Parents of children with Trisomy 18 outraged over media's false reporting","description":"Families of children with Trisomy 18 say recent headlines are hurtful and perpetuate negative stereotypes of children with Trisomy 18.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Parents of children with Trisomy 18 outraged over media's false reporting","og_description":"Families of children with Trisomy 18 say recent headlines are hurtful and perpetuate negative stereotypes of children with Trisomy 18.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2023-12-30T18:55:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-09-20T17:36:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/via.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cassy Cooke","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cassy Cooke","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/"},"author":{"name":"Cassy Cooke","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392"},"headline":"Parents of children with Trisomy 18 outraged over media’s false reporting","datePublished":"2023-12-30T18:55:04+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-20T17:36:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/"},"wordCount":1000,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Analysis","Fact Checks","Newsbreak","Top Story on Homepage"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/","name":"Parents of children with Trisomy 18 outraged over media's false reporting","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-12-30T18:55:04+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-20T17:36:18+00:00","description":"Families of children with Trisomy 18 say recent headlines are hurtful and perpetuate negative stereotypes of children with Trisomy 18.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/trisomy-18-parents-outraged-media\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Parents of children with Trisomy 18 outraged over media’s false reporting"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392","name":"Cassy Cooke","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cassy Cooke"},"description":"Cassy has over 20 years of experience as a writer and editor, most of which have been spent covering pro-life issues like abortion, disability rights, euthanasia, and more.","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/cassy-fiano\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304324"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304324"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":304405,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304324\/revisions\/304405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}