Local news channels reported, this past week, that a young mother had been arrested after the end of a search for her daughter. According to the report, she had initially claimed that her three-week-old had been taken from the car while the young mother was in the post office. The FBI was called in, and an Amber Alert was issued immediately, and several hours later, the newborn was found, in a ditch by the side of a gravel road in rural western Illinois, not far from her home.
The mother has finally confessed to having left her baby there.
I don't really know what drove this young woman to do such a thing, but I know full well that parenting is not simple, especially in the early days of a new life. I know that great demands are made upon a mother, and especially a single mother. (I do not know if Ms. Meaker is single or not, but I could find no references to a husband. Then again, why is her last name different from that of her newborn? But I digress. The issue is of difficulties in parenting)
In these modern times, there is no excuse for dumping a three-week-old baby by a country road. Here in Illinois, where this all took place, we have a Safe Haven law, guaranteeing safety and privacy to any parent of a child, within 30 days of that child's birth, if it is brought to a hospital, police station, or fire station and surrendered for fostering/adoption. After that time frame, social services are at the ready to help –with no recriminations – with foster care and adoption placement, as well.
And, let me remind you, adoption is an option. Indeed, though, it is the one option feminists seem to be unwilling to admit is out there. And, yet, for all its neglect by media, it is a beautiful choice.
Once upon a time, a baby was a sign that there was love between two people. I realize that, in this age of promiscuous sex, a baby now often means somebody was not sufficiently prepared for an evening's debauchery, but that's not the fault of the child. The birth of a child is still a special event: the birth of a child is a miracle.
If a woman – or a couple – feel unready to handle that miracle, it seems the height of foolishness to throw that miracle onto a landfill or into a ditch. There are thousands upon thousands of individuals and couples in this country alone who are desperate to receive such a miracle for themselves, who would cherish every moment of crying and laughing that the "unwanted" child might produce. Sure, the media features a handful of stories about individuals who have been so fortunate, but they don't usually show the hardships endured to get those babies.
You might be surprised to hear how many hoops a couple must jump through, just to be put on a waiting list.
Part of the reason for the long waiting periods is, fewer "unwanted" babies are being born. And part of that comes from the sales pitch that, just because one person doesn't want something, that makes it without value. In a culture where the government provides an easy route to license at the cost of liberty, products of that individual excess are seen not merely as disposable, but as dross. Abortion is perceived as the ideal solution for unexpected pregnancies.
But only in the minds of the media does perception equal truth.
It is time, now, for the media to be corrected.
Regardless of what groups like Planned Parenthood may say, each human life, once begun, has value. Each child born is wanted. Each child has a right to be needed. Each mother has a right to know she has created something special. And each mother has a need to know that, if she is not strong enough to carry that life from conception to adulthood, she has the right to offer her precious gift to the world through the hands of another.
Not every woman can do that. It takes two things: the ability to bear a child, and the ability to trust a stranger with that most precious creation. The latter takes a little courage, especially when modern society, as a whole, discourages trust. The former, though… even though it happens every day by accident, imagine the grief of those who try, and try, and will always fail. For them, the gift of a child is the most precious thing another person could ever offer.
If a woman feels she has nothing worthwhile about her life, she becomes a slave to any man or government ready to tell her a pretty tale.
Allow her to understand the truth that, even though she may have little else in her life, what she has within herself, of herself, is of real value, and the shackles will quickly fall away.
When that happens, the children may be brought safe from desperation, as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment