Jaime Herrera Beutler Returning To Congress For Syria Vote

Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler is going back to Washington to vote on the Syria missile strike resolution after giving birth to her “miracle baby.”

The GOP lawmaker, who represents Washington state’s 3rd Congressional district, prematurely gave birth to a baby girl in late July who suffers from an extremely rare condition called Potter’s Syndrome that involves impaired kidney function, which leads to low amniotic fluid and keeps the fetus’s lungs from proper development. Abigail Rose was born without any kidneys and is still hospitalized and undergoing dialysis in Palo Alto, Calif. five weeks later. “The staunchly pro-life lawmaker learned of the devastating diagnosis in the second trimester but was adamant that she and her husband, Dan, would continue with the pregnancy,” the New York Daily News reports

Rep. Herrera Beutler, 34, and her husband have been by their newborn’s bedside constantly and as a result, she has not been working a full congressional schedule. She intends to travel back and forth to D.C. in the meantime for critical votes until her daughter can go home. “We hope to come home with Abigail as soon as possible, but the truth is we don’t know precisely when that will be,” Herrera Beutler indicated in a statement.

According to Oregon Live, the situation with the Republican lawmaker’s first child is quite remarkable in that “Abigail is likely to be the first baby to survive the diagnosis, according to [Herrera Beutler’s] office. Most babies born with the condition are unable to breathe after birth, because the condition prevents their lungs from developing fully.”

The lawmaker told theToday show that “[Abigail Rose] is doing amazing.. in the last couple of days, we got to the point where we’re holding her. She’s playing… She is like any other baby. She has a few challenges, but, man, she’s determined.”

Rep. Herrera Beutler has yet to announce how she would will vote on the resolution to authorize military action in Syria. According to a spokesman, “she’s skeptical about launching a US military strike… [but] “she’s willing to listen to arguments” in favor of it.

Jaime Herrrera Beutler was first elected in 2010 and is the second youngest female member of the US House of Representatives.