In the News
I had another post scheduled for today, but after reading the news this morning, I decided to bring this to your attention instead.
Generally, I try to keep politics away from this blog, but as someone who's suffered a miscarriage, this scares the bejeezus out of me!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/us/01abortion.html
While I can understand a bit of what prompted such legislation, I think they are going about it all wrong. During my time working in neonatology, I saw quite few cases that horrified me. One was very much like the case mentioned here, where a pregnant, teenage couple, in an effort to abort their fetus, took a bunch of drugs and then the boyfriend kicked the girlfriend repeatedly in the stomach. Their efforts did not being about the desired results, and the baby was born prematurely, with severe problems. I'm not sure what happened to the child after she left the NICU. Were these kids wrong in their actions? Absolutely! But do they deserve life in prison because of it? I don't believe so. Instead, shouldn't we examine a system that makes some people so desperate that they feel the only way out is to endure the pain of a brutal beating, thereby causing the death of their unborn child? What social programs are in place to help these girls obtain legal abortions (which are still allowed in the Utah bill)? Or perhaps support them while they put their baby up for adoption? As Christine said (a blogger I was recently introduced to by Michelle), are there programs to financially assist these teenage girls who chose to be mothers to their babies while they finish high school and college? It just seems that there is a greater issue that is being overlooked while people focus on the act of obtaining abortions through non-medical means.
However, putting the issue of intentional abortions and social programs aside, there is something else in this bill which is even more alarming. A woman who suffers a miscarriage due to "reckless behavior" can also be punished by life in prison. The thing that scares me so much about this is, who determines what constitutes "reckless behavior?" (and I admit, I haven't seen the entire bill to read line-by-line) The examples given are drinking alcohol and driving recklessly while pregnant. But what about me? I ate at a sushi bar while pregnant. Sure, I didn't consume anything raw, but maybe some of those California Rolls touched a bit of sashimi and that resulted in my miscarriage. Is that reckless behavior? And even if it was reckless, was my intent to satisfy my craving for sushi or to harm my unborn child? I think every woman who has suffered a miscarriage ought to think about this issue very carefully. Most of you reading this blog were devastated by the loss and went on to either conceive or adopt another child. I'm sure all of us questioned what we may have done that caused us to lose our child. Many of you, like me, may have even had people tell you why you were to blame for the loss of your child (in my case, I was "too stressed" about having a healthy pregnancy). It seems that lawmakers in Utah, while they may have good intentions, are completely missing the mark with this one.
What are your thoughts? (and if any of you are tempted to leave inflammatory or disrespectful comments, I warn you in advance, they will be deleted).
Generally, I try to keep politics away from this blog, but as someone who's suffered a miscarriage, this scares the bejeezus out of me!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/us/01abortion.html
While I can understand a bit of what prompted such legislation, I think they are going about it all wrong. During my time working in neonatology, I saw quite few cases that horrified me. One was very much like the case mentioned here, where a pregnant, teenage couple, in an effort to abort their fetus, took a bunch of drugs and then the boyfriend kicked the girlfriend repeatedly in the stomach. Their efforts did not being about the desired results, and the baby was born prematurely, with severe problems. I'm not sure what happened to the child after she left the NICU. Were these kids wrong in their actions? Absolutely! But do they deserve life in prison because of it? I don't believe so. Instead, shouldn't we examine a system that makes some people so desperate that they feel the only way out is to endure the pain of a brutal beating, thereby causing the death of their unborn child? What social programs are in place to help these girls obtain legal abortions (which are still allowed in the Utah bill)? Or perhaps support them while they put their baby up for adoption? As Christine said (a blogger I was recently introduced to by Michelle), are there programs to financially assist these teenage girls who chose to be mothers to their babies while they finish high school and college? It just seems that there is a greater issue that is being overlooked while people focus on the act of obtaining abortions through non-medical means.
However, putting the issue of intentional abortions and social programs aside, there is something else in this bill which is even more alarming. A woman who suffers a miscarriage due to "reckless behavior" can also be punished by life in prison. The thing that scares me so much about this is, who determines what constitutes "reckless behavior?" (and I admit, I haven't seen the entire bill to read line-by-line) The examples given are drinking alcohol and driving recklessly while pregnant. But what about me? I ate at a sushi bar while pregnant. Sure, I didn't consume anything raw, but maybe some of those California Rolls touched a bit of sashimi and that resulted in my miscarriage. Is that reckless behavior? And even if it was reckless, was my intent to satisfy my craving for sushi or to harm my unborn child? I think every woman who has suffered a miscarriage ought to think about this issue very carefully. Most of you reading this blog were devastated by the loss and went on to either conceive or adopt another child. I'm sure all of us questioned what we may have done that caused us to lose our child. Many of you, like me, may have even had people tell you why you were to blame for the loss of your child (in my case, I was "too stressed" about having a healthy pregnancy). It seems that lawmakers in Utah, while they may have good intentions, are completely missing the mark with this one.
What are your thoughts? (and if any of you are tempted to leave inflammatory or disrespectful comments, I warn you in advance, they will be deleted).
I know people think they have solid reasons for sponsoring bills like these, but they are not dealing in reality. What will they try next? If a child is born damaged, will that mother also be accused of "bad behavior" that caused the problems? Hopefully there will be someone with some common sense to stop this.