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Show The Salt Lake Tribune RELIGION Saturday, December2, 2000 othercases in One iar eaten ing about 12 ounces, much than Sidney Miller. The girl's “mother insisted that Steichen try to save the child despite the near —eertainty-that-he couldn't. Today, thegirl is a healthy, though small, WORLD VIEW Life or Death: @ Continued from D-1 —Fality,” says Jean Steichen,direc-~ tor of the High Risk Infant FollowUp Program atChildren’s Hospital Medical Centerin Cincinnati. 9-year-old who still stops in to see him. it, and wedid and she was fine, and {hadothercases] where the restiits were devastating,” Steichen “Those babies are on your mand, when you suddenlyface a 400-gm child and you must make a ee sion onthe spot.” — Qa Survival rates increasing Anormal pregnancylasts about 40. weeks, and a typical birth weightfora full-term babyis about 7 1/2 pounds. Babies are considered premature if they are bornbefore they havelived 37 weeks in the womborattained a weight of Have a Sense OfHumor wilkfind sitcom star Ally McBeal’s name onthe office directory in the foyer. That's because tourists expect to find her there — and be- prematurely. At the same time, advances in the treatment of newborns have dramatically improved survival rates for the tiniest babies, pushing the outside edge ofviability back to cause the keepers of the region's oldest Christian tradition have a sense of humor.In the “Ally McBeal” show,the Fox Network uses an image ofthe association’s less than 1 pound in birth weight and less than: 23 weeks in ‘the womb. Those babies — representing less than 1 percentofall live building to suggest that’s where the fictional McBeal works for the fictional law firm of Cage & Fish. births — require extraordinary measuresto keep their tiny hearts beating. Since a breakthrough in 1961 that showed premature babies could be kept alive through artificial breathing devices, advancesin A mystery person within the association thoughtit would be fun to let the star-crazy public think she works on the seventh floor, and the Congregationalists are playing alongbyletting her monikerstay - up, according to Executive Direc- treating such children have been dramatic. Artificial breathing techniques were perfected in the 1970s. By 1990, doctors had begun tor Harold F. Worthley. The 1898 building houses a wealth oforigi- nal historical documents in the Congregational Library as well as injecting premature babies with a offices for the Massachusetts Council of Churches, the City Mission Society and the United Churchof Christ. —Religion News Service synthetic versionofsurfactant, the soap-like bodytissue that helps the lungs mature, and survival rates shot up.eLater in the decade, steroids administered to at-risk mothers helped speed the developmentoffetal hearts and brains, and Proselytizing Unacceptable herents ofother faiths. Evangeli- cal groupsfrom the United States were “proselytizing Orthodox congregations in Ukraine, Russia and other [European] countries,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinoplesaid during a speech in southern India Nov.18. Bartholomewdidnotspecifically mention evangelical groupsin In- dia, but Catholicos Baselios Marthoma MathewsII,the leaderof India’s main Orthodox church, described the actions of some “Pentecostal”groupsin India as a “real problem.” He told Ecumeniomee International that the . Seem tofeel that all chee[Christi are in the wrong wayant the only right group.” i —Religion News Service a Prayers for Peace Churches for Middle East Peace, an ecumenical coalition,is asking Christians across the United States to pray for peace in the Middle East during Advent. The Washington-based advocacy networkplansto start the vigil on Dec.3, the first Sunday of Advent, and continueit until the violence endswith a negotiated resolution ofthe conflict. Corinne Whitlatch, director of the advocacy group, said prayeris an appropriate way of continuing their workfor peace. “Prayeritself is a form of advocacy,” she said. “We're just trying to establish a structure so thatit may be done ecumenically." Religion News Service Q Philip Now Carol For the past four years the parishioners ofSt. Philip's Church in UpperStratton, a suburb of Swindon,a railway town 80 miles westof London, have been ministered to by the Rev. Philip Stone. On Sundaytheirservices will be conducted by the Rev, Carol Stone.At the ageof46,their vicar has had a sex-change operation andis at last the woman she — or he always wanted tobe. Stone, twice divorced and with an18year-old daughter, has had the support of her family, her congre- gation and herbishop,theRt. Rev. Rogersonof Bristol, who id last June he could see norea son in church law why Stone should not continueasa priest in the Churchof Englandafter the sex-change operation, Religion News Service survival rates jumped again. Some . specialists mark the progress through personal mile- stones. Marilee Allen, a pediatri? cian at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, gave birth to a 4-poundboyin 1985, 34 weeks into her pregnancy. The boy was easily revived, and Allen thought no more about it — until she recalled that, 22 years earlier, the infant son of President and Jacqueline Kennedyhadbeen born at the same weight and period of gesta- tion. Patrick Bouvier Kennedy lived 39 hours before dying of lung failure. Since the 1990s, the most dramatic changes have been increased survival rates for infants whom doctors call “micro-preemies,” who weigh about 2 poundsor less at birth, often after fewer than 28 weeksin the womb. Numbers vary amonghospitals, be pretty.” The Rev, Ron Larson, an evangelical pastor who runs an exorcism ministry in Denver, talking aboutthe proliferation of exorcisms aroundthe country in The New York Times, infant-resuscitation case; in part because intentis difficult to prove. revive/don’t revive question dif- ferently. At hospitals such as Johns Hopkins, doctors do not revive babies who have been in the wombfor fewer than 26 weeks unless the parents requestit. “T feel strongly that it should be Criminal laws rarely are used against parents who help their preemiesdie. In a,rare exception, a doctor in East Lansing, Mich., was charged with manslaughter in 1994 after he entered a hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit and disconnected his infant son’s life-support equipment. The doctor and his wife had asked that no special treatment be offered to the baby, who was born after 23 weeks in the womb.Rut the hospital staff intervened to keep the child alive.-A jury took less ter less than 24 weeks in the womb. With parents, they decide the fate of babies born in weeks 24-26 on a than hour to acquit the father. case-by-casebasis. the parents’ choice,” Allen says. “Theyare the ones that are going to have to live with the resultsof the decision,” Other doctorstry to follow par- ents’ wishes but are reluctant to prolongthe lives of babies born af- dramatically for babies with less time in the womb,to about 25 percent at 23 weeks’ gestation. Since 1990, only a few babies born at 22 or fewer weeks’ gestation and weighing less than 12 ounces have survived. “We've cometo take for granted hat used to be yiewed as mirays Helen Harrison, a Berkeley, Calif., activist on premature babyissues andauthorof The Pre- emie Book. But the improved survival rates have comeat a cost. Because the hearts, brains, lungs and even anatomyof preemies don't develop fully until after the 25th week, babies whosurvive, such as Sidney, can have serious health problems. Somedoctors contend that the treatments used to improve preemies’ chances forcing oxygen intotheir lungs, for example —can contributeto cranial bleeding and cause long-term problems. The most recent study, pub: lished in The New England Journal of Medicine last August, found that more than half of308 children born at 25 weeksor less had severely delayed development at 30 months of age. About 10 percent had severe neuromotordis” bility; 7 percentwere blind. The rising survivability rates, and the increased potential for medical problems, raise many questions for physicians who deliver premature babies. Among them: whether doctors should revive all newbornsor just the ones parents wantrevived, “We're in it to save lives,” says William Walsh,director of nurseries at Vanderbilt University Chil- L..ws vague on ‘preemies’ ‘The law on premature habies is cloudy. No court has said whether a child has a right to be resuscitated if he or sheis likely to die or have major health problems. A 16-year-old federal law prevents the withholding of care from a child because ofa disability, But advocates for the disabled say it has never been used in an ‘They made ourdecisions’ Whether. the Miller case will providesuchdirection is unclear. For the Millers, the best hope is for the appellate court to focus on thetrial court jury’s finding — that treating Sidney amounted to an unauthorized “battery”ofthe child —andto avoidissues thattake into accounta doctor’s predicament. ° “This is simply a case about consent,” Mark Miller says. The Doctors say the decision.to re- “That’s the ‘gray zone,’ “ says vive very premature babies is Barry Fleisher, a pediatrics pro- former stockbroker, stays home'to made more difficult by this: Some survive with no apparent probJems, and many others grow up with symptoms that are inconvenient but not disabling. Advocates for the disabled are troubled by what they say are the Miller case’s implications:that the probability of a child’s future handicap should affect any decisionto revive him orher. . “Since when did we cometo ex- fessor at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. “You talk to the parents a lot, and most[doctors], I think, would resuscitate if that’s whatthe parents wanted.” But many hospitals, such as Woman's Hospital of Texas, try to treat all infants who doctors believe have a chance ofsurviving. Thatpolicy is driven by a fear of lawsuits from parents who demand that their preemies be re- pect that weare all entitled to per- vived even when doctors believe fect children?” asks James Bopp, a there is no hope. Oneof the doctors whohelped treat Sidney Miller had Terre Haute, Ind., lawyer and president of the National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled. “Children with disabilities aré capable of living lives of great merit to themselves, their parents andtheir families.” Doctors and hospitals across the United States _treat the been hit with such a suit a few years before Sidney was born. provide full-time care to Sidney andherbrothers, ages 9 and 4. The boys are not disabled. The family pays Sidney’s bills out of its own pocket, Mark Miller says, while waiting to see whether the judgment will be upheld. With interest, it has grown to an estimated $65 million. “Our decision was not to put this child through life of agony, and that’s exactly what she wound up with,” he says. “Sometimes I look at herin that wheelchair, and I see her quiver andtremble, and I wonder, ‘What must Sidney think?” Doctors “have so muchontheir For pediatricians such as Ste- minds in these situations,” says John Serpe, a lawyer who defended ichen, Sidney Miller's case is the hospital at trial. “You can’t handcuff them in the delivery room. And you can’t ask them to b heartbreaking. But as he makes his rounds at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, the 25-year pediatrics veteran keeps Utah Parents ~~ Continued from D-1 ¥ doctors and I am involved ih thig™ up to my eyeballs all the time,” Clarksaid. “Usually, it’sa very & harmoniousthing. Sometimes,doctors and nurses are more pessimistic about the outcome for small preemies than the data would suggest, Botkin said.“They see the worstcases, the ones whostayin the nursery the.,,, longest,” he said. “They havethe, ; impression thatis all that’s ou! there.” Health care workers also neath, to believe that kids with ee ties devastate families. “The data doesn’t support \rt2 that,” Botkin said. “Some families: mayget stressed to the breaking.) : point, but themajority end up rake lying andcoping well.” Thatseemst6 be true of the iat Boss family. At 14 months, Joshua Boss wearsglasses to help his visioni:! *¢ He cannotcry, speak, walk or 12 even roll over. Every week he: usu workswith several physical andiis developmental therapists. test “T’m notgoing to fool myself ' that he will ever be normal, butde is not a vegetable,” Jill Boss said3¥ “We are thankful for every newine thing hedoes.” 4 TheBoss family, including “ om twin brother Nicholas (whois 'veiw completely healthy) and sister’ * Melanie, 8, are as close-knitas 4 family,said Jill Boss. Maybe are so. “With all the challenges ant frustrations ofraising a disal child,I would nottrade Joshuafor, anything,”shesaid. “He’s a totiit angel.” e-mail: pstack@sltrib.com _ wud ATTEND THE CHURCH OF YOUR CHOICE: MERIC Christian Church g of God's Word tation survive until hospital discharge, says Susan Madden, a health statistics researcher and author of The Preemie Parents’ Companion.Thesurvivalratefalls lawyers and judges,too.” Q hospital’ and its doctors “played God. They madeour decisions for us. For now,Miller’s wife, Karla, a babies born at 25-28 weeks of ges- The Last Word pure extremeevil, it's not going to Patty Wood/GNSPhoto Karla Millerwith her severely handicapped daughterSidney,10, at their homein SanFelipe, Texas. At birth, Sidney weighed 1 pound and 3 ounces. but nationally about 80 percent of dren’s Hospital. “But at what point are we prolonging suffering?” “Dealing with the devil is ugly work, The devil is ugly. Evil is ug: ly, Whenyou get to whatI call Is Familiar to 4 Therate of premature births in the United States has risen in the past 15 years, as increased use of artificial. insemination has produced an explosion in multiple births. One in nine babies — about 436,000 a year — now are born Keen-eyed visitors to the American Congregational Association’s stately downtown Boston building The headof Orthodox Christians worldwide has deemed as “unacceptable” attempts by evangelical Christians to convert ad- Storyline 2,500 grams — about 5 1/2 pounds. The Episcopal | hasating ot Wireoler Fane: 6351 So. 900 E.| ‘Sunday Services 10:15 a.m. Church Welcomes You For completei weekday and other Sanday services, please call the numbers listed below. All Saints Church 1710 Foothill Drive Salt Lake City, UT 84108 581-0380 Sunday,- Holy Eucharist 8:00 am, 10:00.am & 6:00 pm The Cathedral Church of = Mark Ei § (801) 295-3253 Mountain Springs ey Ala alka Worship at 11:00 am nursery & childrens, classes provided 7136 South 1700 East 269-1204 _www.crcinutah.org UNITY SPIRITUAL CENTER “I pray that you prosper and be in good heal ii daha HIS FAMILY CHURCH f NON-DENOMINATIONALCHRISTIAN CHURCH Pastors Allen and Peggy Duda SUNDAY:10:30 A.M. 4020 South 900 East (currently meeting at Salt Lake Lutheran High Schoo!) 801,668-5777 _www.histamilychurch.com Clayton Middle School 1471 South 1800 East FIRST UNITARIAN” tH Christians Do = “We all have [treated] a baby where we thought we shouldié&do “They are not always the same.” 3829687 CHURCH 38S. itt i] Worship Services 9:00am & 11:00am| "The Polarized") Society" so Rev. Tom Goldsmith IntergencrationalService: 10:20am "8 Religious Education and Nursery Gare: “i 9;00am - 10:15am & 11:00am - 12:15pai! Welcome Unity's New Mintster’ Rev. Philip Smithen “Adventures In Falth - Gt 1 It Is About Loving Yourself? 9:30 & 11am Celebration Services Meditation 9:00 am www spiritualcenterorg 4 eli CHURCH First Advent “WhatKind of Cloud" Rev. Art Ritter "WASATCH PRESB'YTERIAN Holy Eucharist Rite I 9: 10:30am James Church 7486 Union Park Ave. aves,eon rete APA Church of Religious Scionce mae ar Oakwood Village Center 5448 S. 900 E. 265-8601 “When is Your Future” Rev, Donald Graves 1700 South 1700 East 487-7576 Worship at 8:30am & 11:00am "An Angel'sVis Visit" Child Care Provided Rev. David A. Henry __Rev. Catherine Putnam Holy Bue cee iia Sunday oly Eucharist 1 10:00am Wednesday Holy Eucharist 1 12:90pm St. Stephen's Churc! q Dial-A-Prayer 461-5006 4615 South 3200 West West Valley City, UT 84119 968-2731 UNITED werioosey URCHE: CJ Sunday loly Eucharist It 10:30am Torotoy Buchs, 4 11 7:00pm] Church of TI on natPages La. Centerville UT 84014 295-1360 Sunday « Holy Eucharist 9:30am St. Mary's Church 50 West 2nd North Provo UT 84603 373-3090 Sunday wrist 8:30am charist 10:30am. . Luke's Church 4595, North Silver Springs Dr. "ark City, UT 84098 1900 Sunday Holy Eucharist 8 a.m 525 =rk Ave. Chiy lain Church 2pm Ski In Ski Sunset, Cabin Deer Valley ‘St. Paul's Church 261 South 900 East sais ke City, UT 84102 2. 5871 S rr Holy tite 14200 am Sunday - Hol riot Rite HL 1:00am (Contemporary Muske) Rvory Int & ded Sundays Rite | 10:00 am Every 2nd, 4th& Sth Sundays Rito tt 10:00 am (Traditional Music) St. Barnabas’ (435)882-4721 Chureh School at 10:00 am Holy Bucharist Rite I at 10.30art 12 4c" Reet 363-3889 "The Cost of Christmas" FIRST UNITED METHODIST WORSHIP SERVICES (all ages) 10:00 A. 203 S. 200 E. - 328-8726 “Hanging of the Greens" Rev.Brian Hare-Diggs era a Worship Service 11:00 a.m. Child Carel KS Sunday Schoo! 9:30 am. Provided CHRIST UNITED METHODIST 2375 E, 3300 So. - 486-5473 Expecting ADVENTure - Through Love’ Ron Hodges Preaching Worship Services 8:00am, 9:30am, 11:00am HILLTOP UNITED METHODIST 985 E. 10600 So, - 571-5777 “Hoping Against Hope" TetDosseniring ‘Traditional Worship &15 & 11:00 G rary Worship 9:30 B acChliven Say Scael @8:90 o TRINITY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 4200 West 6418 South, Kearns 060-091 “From Exile to Home" Rev. Bob Heim Worship: 8:30 & 11:00am es 2:00 pm MOUNTAIN Vista UNTED MI L ‘Worship 0:30 4 11:00em Church Schoo! # 4am Of Mice and Men and Steve Reinhard, Pastor at the Seventh Dey Advertiat Worship 8:30 & 11:00 Church School 9:30 am Children 3-Adult Care salen itarntonwl170-8 Rev. David Crockett, 1580 Vine Street e100$eSo), WESTVALE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 3610 South 4400 West, WVC 968-7992 During Our Renovation Please J 1 For Worship at The WVC Family Fitness Center, SALS West 3100 So, WVC Sundays 11:00 AM SOUTH VALLEYUNITARIA UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY worship service 10:30 am "The Austere Beauty”oT of Evolution" Steven Epperson, Ph.D. ‘| feleowe ees Re, 676 So. 0 30h East 944-972. i “Celebrating God's Promises” Rev,Bill Alexander tenary United Methodist Churcl Experience God's Grace! Worship 11:00 am WeInvite You! Rey, Jennifer Hare-Diggs, Pastor] 1740 South 500 Bast - 485-9831 www. n-umec org/centenat sutab/ 70a eS ener on he Sct |
