John,

Sydney Anne Bennett is a woman with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), causing her to be wheelchair-ridden. The disorder affects the connection between her brain and her central nervous system.

Sydney Anne has a substantial social media following and received hostile backlash when she announced she was pregnant. 

Here are some of the comments she received:

• “How dare you allow disabled to pass it onto a kid. you are sickeningly naive.”
• “It’s just common sense. it is stupid honestly a form of abuse to bear children with chronic disability when you knew fully well they would also inherit it.”
• “Poor baby”
• “But why would you reproduce, knowing your condition?”

Despite the heartless criticism, Bennett was not afraid to express her excitement and confidence about becoming a mother. 

She wrote in an Instagram post: 

We WANTED to have a baby.

Our sweet girl is happy, deeply loved, and loves her life (and her mama’s wheelchair.)

My husband is an amazing, faithful man who loves me and Hadassah very much and takes wonderful care of us.

I am more than capable of caring for my daughter alone while he is at work.

I know my body and my symptoms very well and navigate them fluently.

Hadassah has and will have a wonderful life with parents who love her deeply. One is fast on his legs and the other has a cool chair on wheels. She loves both. What’s not to love?

John, Sydney is showing us what a world without abortion looks like. She is championing the feminine ability to care and nurture despite physical setbacks. She is exposing the beautiful dynamic of mother and father working together for the good of their children.

So many of the negative comments she received were from people with good intentions. They thought they were pointing out something wrong that she was doing. This “mercy killing” mentality is too often used when either the mother or the preborn child is given a medical diagnosis. 

Evil happens when something wrong is twisted into a perception of being something good.

The truth is that killing a child via abortion is never better than bringing that life into a broken circumstance or a perceived life of suffering. Problems can be addressed, but every new human life is unrepeatable, and intentional killing cannot be undone. 

Let’s allow stories like Sydney Anne’s to shine a light on the truth. Her baby is worthy of life, and she is just as capable of being a wonderful mother as any other woman. 

Do you have a story of when abortion was recommended due to a medical diagnosis, but the parents embraced life? Just reply to this email if you have one you’d like to share, John! I’d love to hear.

For Life,

Lila Rose
Founder and President