Baby Samuel and Mother Doing Well After Fetal Surgery

Nashville -- Samuel Armas, the infant whose in utero surgery made
history after a photo of the unborn baby grasping the finger of his
surgeon through an opening in Mrs. Armas' uterus energized pro-life
groups and led to Matt Drudge's departure from Fox News, was born
without fanfare.

"We didn't want anyone intruding on his birth," said Julie Armas, who
has had two previous miscarriages.

A Cesarean section was performed Dec. 2, 1999, bringing "Baby Samuel"
into the world with new hope -- he had been diagnosed with spina bifida
just weeks after his conception. Samuel's parents, Julie and Alex Armas,
chose to allow mother and child to try a relatively new procedure aimed
at reducing the effects of spina bifida.

The debilitating disease damages the spinal cord, which can cause
paralysis or weakness of the legs, bowel and bladder incontinence,
neurological impairments and learning disabilities. Nearly all children
born with spina bifida must undergo surgery to implant permanent shunts
-- thin tubes that remove excess fluid that could otherwise cause brain
damage.

While only time will tell how successful the surgery was, Samuel was
born healthy and is home with his parents. Samuel now weighs more than 7
pounds.

"It's not a cure," Julie Armas indicated. "We understand that. It is
some hope."

So far, he has not developed hydrocephalus, the potentially dangerous
build-up of fluid in the brain that is a common complication of spina
bifida. The latest ultrasound test of his head "was almost completely
normal," said Armas, who has worked as an obstetrical nurse.

Leg weakness is another complication of spina bifida, and Samuel is
receiving physical therapy to improve his leg function. Although he may
eventually need braces below the knees to help him walk, "his
orthopedist is very pleased with the way he's coming along," Armas said.
"That really made us feel better."

"He's a typical little baby, keeping us up at night," his mother said.

The Armases have declined most interview requests since Samuel's birth,
but the couple did go on record with USA Today about their ordeal. In an
email to Dr. Laura Schlesinger, Julie Armas explained: "The decision to
do the USA Today interview stemmed from the fact that it is believed
that the vast majority of babies with spina bifida are aborted in this
country."

"We wanted people to know that there is an educated, professional couple
out there who love and value their child even though he is 'defective'
by society's definition ...," she wrote. "No matter what Samuel's
outcome is, we know that God has allowed him to impact others with a
photograph of his tiny, unborn hand."

Dr. Joseph P. Bruner, director of the Vanderbilt fetal diagnosis and
therapy program, indicated the photo has less significance for him.

"Depending on your political point of view, this is either Samuel Armas
reaching out of the uterus and touching the finger of a fellow human, or
it's me pulling his hand out of the uterus ... which is what I did," he
said.

Dr. Noel B. Tulipan, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Vanderbilt
who closed the hole in Samuel's spine, noted both mother and baby were
anesthetized.

Even if he had not been under anesthesia, a child at Samuel's stage of
development at the time of the surgery "would have no ability to reach
out and grab anything," Tulipan said.

The operation was performed just 21 weeks after conception.

Though babies undergoing fetal surgery to reduce the effects of spina
bifida are given anesthesia to prevent pain during the procedure, a
proposal to anesthetize third-trimester unborn children prior to
abortion was rejected in California.

California State Assemblyman George Runner, who is pro-life, introduced
the Fetal Pain Prevention Act of 1998 which failed in the Assembly
Health Committee.

An analysis written by Democrat staff on the committee notes the strong
opposition of the bill by Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
It goes on to say, "Third trimester abortions are very rare and are most
often performed in hospitals.... These procedures are done only when
women are faced with a serious medical condition and the life of the
mother and/or fetus is in jeopardy."

However, statistics from the Center for Disease Control indicate 3,900
abortions are performed in the third trimester annually in California
alone.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a British panel of
medical and scientific experts, affirmed in October 1997 that fetal pain
does exist and recommends that "practitioners who undertake termination
of pregnancy at 24 weeks or later should consider the requirements for
feticide analgesia and sedation."

American medical experts also indicate that unborn children beyond 20
weeks are capable of experiencing pain, or at least react to stimuli in
a manner that could be interpreted as reaction to pain. One expert, in
Congressional testimony, characterized the pain experienced in a partial
birth abortion procedure as a "dreadfully painful experience."

Apparently fetal surgeons agree that their patients feel pain since
anesthesia is given to both the mother and her child, although Bruner,
who has performed 80 in utero spina bifida operations, continues to
abort unborn children with the disease at the woman's request -- "an
increasingly difficult position to be in," the doctor has ironically
said.

"Because we are performing surgery to improve the lifestyle of fetuses
who have spina bifida, it is difficult to justify an operation that
could also take that life away," he said. "As we walk through this mine
field, society is going to have to take a good, hard look at itself,
because it is untenable to hold both views."

Bruner has estimated that about half of women in the United States who
discover they are carrying a child with spina bifida choose abortion.

Journalist Matt Drudge, author of the Drudge Report, attempted to use
Baby Samuel's famous photo on his Fox News Network television show, but
was forbidden to do so by network management.

"He was using this photo as a jumping-off point to talk about
partial-birth abortion," said Fox News spokesman Brian Lewis. "It was a
picture of an emergency operation for spina bifida. We thought it was a
blatant misrepresentation. It was a straight editorial decision."

Drudge maintains he has no intention of misconstruing the photo as
anything related to abortion.

Drudge parted ways with Fox News, canceling his weekly show. A Fox News
spokesman told WorldNetDaily the desire to split was "mutual."

But the revolutionary new surgery is not just changing the lives of
children with spina bifida or even just their parents. The photographer
of Samuel's outstretched arm said the experience has changed his life.

The Armases agreed to let Nashville free-lance photographer Michael
Clancy take pictures of the Aug. 19 operation. Clancy's now-famous photo
of Samuel's hand was published in newspapers around the world.

The 43-year-old photographer, who had never before taken pictures of a
surgical operation, said, "It has made a pro-lifer out of me."

Clancy said he hadn't realized abortions could legally be performed into
the fifth month of pregnancy and later. In fact, abortions are legal
until a day before birth.

"It's an amazing experience," he said.

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