When parents are expecting a child, they are filled with excitement and hope. But when a diagnostic test or sonogram reveals medical complications or a disability, that joy can turn to fear and uncertainty, and the conversation in a doctor’s office often turns toward abortion.
Kathryn Doherty and Erin Mullen faced this exact scenario, but they refused to have abortions. Today, their thriving daughters are living witnesses to the sacred dignity and worth of every human life.
When Kathryn was 14 weeks pregnant with her daughter Maggie Scolese, a routine sonogram revealed multiple life-threatening birth defects. Her heart had complex anomalies, and an abdominal wall defect left her organs growing outside her body. High-risk specialists urged Kathryn to terminate, calling it foolishness to continue a pregnancy predicted to end in death. At 22 weeks, Kathryn was also diagnosed with placenta accreta, putting her own life at risk. Doctors warned she would leave her five older children motherless, with one telling her that “a good mother would save her child from such suffering.”
“That line still gets to me sometimes,” Kathryn said. “I would have given anything to prevent Maggie’s suffering — 325 days in the hospital, seven surgeries, dependent for years on a ventilator to breathe and a feeding tube to eat. How many women have had their babies wrestled away from their wombs in the name of saving them from suffering? Maggie’s story isn’t about a ‘perfect’ baby born after a misdiagnosis. It is about a heart that kept beating and the clarity I had that it was never my place, even as her mother, to stop it.”
Maggie was born at 32 weeks on Aug. 15, the Feast of the Assumption. Today, she is a happy 13-year-old in sixth grade who loves art, singing and swimming. Though she has developmental and intellectual disabilities, Maggie is thriving and brings immense joy to her family and all who know her.
Erin and her husband, Ed, faced a similar trial when expecting their daughter, CC. After learning CC had Down syndrome, their doctor immediately pushed for abortion, painting a dire picture: she wouldn’t walk, talk or live past age 3. The pressure escalated over three separate visits, reaching a point where the doctor cornered Erin to ask if her husband was coercing her to keep the baby. Refusing to succumb to fear, Erin and Ed walked out, placing their daughter’s future in God’s hands.
Today, CC is a vibrant 10-year-old who swims, plays soccer and has performed in “The Nutcracker.”
“Why is an unborn baby’s worth constantly put on trial simply because we anticipate challenges?” Erin asked. “Every child born into this world will face challenges, whether mental health struggles, illness or personal hardship. Their lives aren’t less worthy of existing because of it. God had a plan for our family, and CC was an essential part of that plan. If I had ended her life, I would have altered God’s plan for me, our family, and even society, as I wouldn’t be doing the work I do today.”
Erin works with the Global Down Syndrome Foundation. A former federal lobbyist, she redirected her career after CC’s birth and now contributes her talents to the NIH INCLUDE program, which researches medical overlaps between Down syndrome and conditions such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Through data gathered by the foundation, Erin learned that across all economic, racial and ethnic backgrounds, children with Down syndrome are thriving. “The reality is that their lives are not tragic, sad or a burden,” she said.
Similarly, Maggie’s life turned Kathryn toward supporting other families facing adverse prenatal diagnoses and raising children with disabilities. After receiving compassionate, life-affirming medical care during her pregnancy at Tepeyac OB/GYN, Kathryn worked with Divine Mercy Care to advance pro-life care for expectant mothers. She is currently chief operating officer at Porto Charities, helping to increase access to Catholic education and employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Arlington diocese.
“Our culture often tells women facing high-risk or unexpected pregnancies that abortion is an escape from suffering, but it is truly an empty promise,” she said. “What women and children need is support, accompaniment and love — not pressure to choose death.”
Virginians face a critical policy decision in the upcoming election regarding Ballot Question 1, a proposed constitutional amendment that would broadly expand abortion in the state constitution.
I believe that this amendment touches the core of how the community values human life and supports individuals with disabilities.
Kathryn and Erin show that abortion is not what women and children of Virginia should be promised. People deserve loving support, access to excellent medical care, and the enduring peace that comes from choosing life.
Williamson is communications coordinator for Porto Charities.
