Before I start this post, I need everyone to know that while I am pro-choice, I’m not pro-baby-killer. I like babies. They’re a little funny looking being bald and all, but I like them.
The tornado that recently swept through the Midwest killing at least 21 people was a tragedy. Nature hasn’t been very kind to us this year. That’s indisputable.
Yesterday, on my way to the office, I read about the recent event in the New York Times. Later, after I got to work I read CNN online. CNN reported something that resonated with me. And my first reaction was “Well, that’s a little weird.” The NYT mentioned nothing. (I’m sort of curious as to why.)
CNN reports:
Besides the 18 dead in Vanderburgh County, four people were killed in neighboring Warrick County. Authorities there are counting as a fifth death the 8-month-old fetus of a victim.
Fast forward to this morning when I was reading the New York Times Metro Section and I stumble upon the grim article about a 25-year-old woman who recently had her children returned to her after her boyfriend burned her older (2 at the time) son with scalding hot water for soiling himself.
The NYT’s reports:
Mr. Gillians was babysitting Tramel on May 26, 2004, and placed the boy under scalding water because he had diarrhea and soiled himself. Though the hot water badly burned Tramel’s back, arms and legs, Ms. Vaughn and Mr. Gillians waited for two days to take him to the hospital. By then, the burns had become infected and had started to leak pus, a spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, said.
The mother was given five years probation, the father is serving four years in prison. That’s great. Good for them. Whatever.
How does one set of authorities report that an 8-month-old fetus counts among the dead, yet another set of authorities returned these living, breathing babies to their 25-year-old mother in good conscience after she left her son’s burns become so infected they began to fill with pus? Furthermore, why are we NOW reading that the one-year-old baby boy recently drowned in a bathtub after she left him alone with his 3-year-old brother?
If we’re going to count an unborn fetus as a living being I wish we’d extend this same ideology to the breathing babies around the world. I will find it downright impossible to take the pro-life ideology seriously as long as we continue to disregard the living.
Will someone please explain this to me…
… like I’m an unborn, 8-month-old fetus?
I don’t even know what to say. That saddens me beyond words. What a worthless excuse for a mommy. I must go love my babies immediately!
So sad. Just so sad.
p.s. “pus” not “puss” – I know I’m a pain in the rear for being a spelling stickler… but rhere you have it…
That’s ok to correct me. My editor is on permanent vacation. :]
i’m not sure i understand what you mean michele? how are you linking prolife to a total jerk abusing his baby? because this guy is bad, it justifies pro-choice? (just so you know, i’m not pro-life and i’m not pro-choice….i think they both have their points)
i find it whacked out that on one hand authorities have included an unborn baby among the dead in Indiana, yet authorities here in New York State placed an obviously abused pair of boys back in the hands of their parent(s) who later ended up killing one of them.
I’m saying that the worth we give the unborn seems to outweigh we give our living some of the time. I’m saying that it seems that sometimes if a living baby is black he/she is seen as a lesser life form (some of the time) than an (dare I say white) unborn fetus.
I’m saying what CNN reported and what the authorities have included as a “death” might be yet another sneaky tactic used by the pro-life community.
I’m not sure what I’m saying. I’m saying I’m pissed off I guess.
i hear ya….3370 daily abortions isn’t news worthy, but one sick bastard who hurts his kid is i guess? people are cruel and the news is a business and it’s about shock e’m so they buy our shit….it is infuriating sometimes, but hey what can we do?
That’s fucked up. Our social services system is in dire need of change, and it’s going to take people noticing how fucked it is for it to change. The main priority of social services is to return the child to it’s biological parents as soon as possible. It’s insane.
I’m pro-choice to a point. I think if the critter can survive outside the womb, maybe it’s safe to call it a person. Partial birth abortion make my uterus scream. And my heart. I do think that when it’s an early term decision it’s none of my damn business though.
Besides, the albeit bad, comparison I have written about above, don’t you find it a bit peculiar that not only are they including an 8-month-old fetus among the dead, but they’re reporting about it as well? What’s their point by mentioning that?
Granted, I am premenstrual and annoyed by the color white today, so maybe I’m going to end up regretting all of this.
Oh, and another point I didn’t quite have but would like to add now is how can we begin to take ANY life seriously when we treat the living so badly? It kinda makes you lose faith in anyone caring at all.
I once got into an argument with a girl (online) who said that the reason she (as a Christian) cared so much for the unborn baby was that it was the only creature who hadn’t sinned yet. Once born, we sin. That being said no one is ever innocent. Ever. Based on that logic, life means almost nothing at all.
I’m rambling. This is not something I usually do online anymore. Usually I save this sort of ranting for my husband. But he’s on a train headed to a doctor’s appt.
I hate the media for the most part. I think reporting about the poor dead 8month old fetus is just about shock and sensationalism. It pisses me off. To me it’s disrespectful to the people who died, including the kid.
The other day on some news network, I don’t remember which, there was a riot going on about some Nazi’s who were in town making trouble. The Nazi’s left before the riot started, and what it appeared to be was a bunch of kids looting a couple of stores, just being crazy kids. The stupid reporter kept saying, “race war. race war. race war.” like that’s what was going on. It made me so mad I thought I would pass out from rage.
don’t regret, it’s something you feel passionate about. there are some sick people out the and i feel many work in the media. i feel strongly about the first amendment, but these people seem to be lacking a good editor or more importantly any responcibility
I need to repeat something, I find it so hard to care about life of those still in the womb when folks don’t seem to care about it all that much after we’re born. Until life is treated as one of the greatest gifts of all, no matter what stage, it’s hard for me to get on board with the pro-lifers.
Let’s start doing partial-life abortions. Oh, wait, that’s called “execution”.
i’m all for it! hehehe : ) smile michele, it’s a beautiful day
I agree Mihow. I’m not pro-life but I’m not pro-stab the baby in the head either. I like talking about this subject because I don’t believe it’s as controversial as it’s made out to be. I think we all fall in the middle somewhere. Well, most of us anyway.
I think we have to as individuals try to push past the insanity of the world around us and be the ones to care. Ya know? Like reporting abuse when we see it, even though we know the system may fail the kid. I want us all to scream bloody murder about the failings of social services, because damn it- someone has to protect the little guys.
I was abused as a child. It was obvious, but nobody ever stepped in and did anything. It’s easier I think to keep quiet or shrug your shoulders.
It’s this kind of stuff that makes me feel completely useless and powerless to make a difference – this kind of heartache runs amok everywhere. Breaks my heart.
Maybe the French government should abort those teenagers starting riots in France?
annegelynn, let’s do something about it. I know what you mean about feeling useless, but surely there is something we can do even if it’s small. Hell, I dunno.
I have lurked about your site for awhile and today’s topic really struck me. and i wanted to comment. so. I’m a pro-lifer (one who knows things are never as simple as we’d like to make them) and i’ve often thought that if pro-lifer’s get what we want and abortion is made illegal, we had better be damn ready to take responsibility for the lives we are so eager save. saddly, i have a hard time believing that would happen, considering incidences like you mentioned are not uncommon. i think you’re right; that there is often so little respect for those already born, in comparison to the effort many people poor into the unborn. i would like to see that same effort poured into the kids we already have.
While we’re assigning worth to stages of life, I suggest we assign more care to our elderly. Often times, they are treated with less respect than an unborn fetus.
Why does this not keep people up at night?
Thanks for commenting, yarnhelmet. You’re welcome here anytime.