October 23, 2011
-
I'm waiting....probably in vain.....
I'm waiting and I'm probably waiting in vain.
An infant was found on a porch at 9:30 am on Saturday morning in Philadelphia, Pa. The baby's umbilical cord was still attached and the authorities are concerned that the mother is somewhere needing medical attention.
It's a valid concern. Women still sometimes bleed to death after giving birth.
But what I'm waiting for, and probably waiting in vain for, will be the self criticism of pro-life groups who spend a lot of time and money and energy making sure that women have a hard time (or a harder time) finding good health care and information about contraception. I want to hear them admit that they failed this individual.
Because, you see, doing the actual work of assisting pregnant women in crisis is time consuming, hard work, and doesn't get you an awful lot of publicity.
And it also means you must get involved--not in a cause, but with a person. A person who may have made choices that you would not have made, who lives in a family culture far different from yours, or who is pregnant because of a circumstance that involves a crime such as rape or incest. Getting involved is messy and may make a person have to confront that some problems are much bigger than a slogan or a cause.
Some problems are personal. Some problems need to be dealt with face to face and heart to heart. It involves being able to look past a person's mistakes, culture or victimhood and seeing that pregnant mother as a person as needing love and care as much as the un-named fetus.
Such care means that if you are pro-life, you need to be pro-live for the mother as well. It means that you have to leave the comfort of your idealogy and get your hands dirty. It involves your heart and not just your mouth or pocketbook.
It means you listen. It means you care. It means you must get involved.
I'll wait to hear that statement of fault and guilt. But I suspect that I'll be waiting a long, long time.
Comments (3)
I'm sitting in the same waiting room as you are. Sarah Palin actively worked to keep information about contraception out of Alaskan (and other) schools, yet when her own teenaged daughter got pregnant, she never made that connection.
It's "Pro-Life" month in the Catholic Church I attend. We have a dedicated group that is constantly collecting money to "campaign" on the issue, some of which goes to staking out a clinic and harrasing people trying to enter. Call that Christian? 'Cause I don't. If they would ever raise money to help pregnant women with medical expenses, or infant items, or food and clothing, I'd be on board. Some people prefer the blindness of their world then to seek out the problems they wish not to confront.
When I was in University, I used to hang out int he coffee shop of the chaplaincy. The Catholics were far saner than the Prods but I digress as is my wont. During a discussion on abortion, one Catholic student turned to the priest and asked his opinion. The priest said "any one who is against abortion, should be prepared to take an unmarried pregnant girl into his house and treat her as he would his own daughter. That tipped the balance for me and I've preferred Catholic discussion groups over Protestant ones ever since. So far, it seems I made the right choice.
@DMMeyer - thanks for checking in and for your thoughts
@Lovegrove - a wise priest, that one....
Comments are closed.