Boehner lauds doctor who saved lawmaker's baby
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}July 23, 2013: This file photo provided by the office of Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., shows Herrera Beutler, left, is with her husband, Dan Beutler, and their baby, Abigail Rose Beutler, at Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP)
In a break from his chamber's often acrid political divisions, a choked-up House Speaker John Boehner prompted two bipartisan standing ovations on Wednesday when he praised the doctor who helped a congresswoman's infant survive a rare fetal condition.
Lawmakers reacted warmly after Boehner, R-Ohio, interrupted votes on education legislation to introduce Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash. The 35-year-old lawmaker stood up, holding and hugging her year-old baby, Abigail Rose.
He then introduced Dr. Jessica Bienstock, who specializes in high-risk pregnancies at Johns Hopkins University and was in the chamber's visitors' gallery.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While in the womb, the baby was diagnosed with Potter syndrome. That meant she lacked kidneys, which often results in under-developed lungs and nearly always causes newborns to quickly suffocate.
The baby's development improved after Bienstock injected saline into the congresswoman's womb.
"If she's a happy, healthy miracle, Dr. Bienstock is the miracle worker who helped give the gift of help and life to this family," Boehner said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Abigail was born two months premature without kidneys and spent her first five months in intensive care. She is on dialysis and will need a transplant.