Million Dollar Baby
A friend of mine told me she cared for a million dollar baby. It gave me pause as we talked about her job.
What is a baby worth?
To one family, it could be that they are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for invetro-fertalization treatments and many thousands connected with travel and then, the added expenses associated with high risk pregnancy. They could spend upwards of a million dollars before the baby is a year old. While others inadvertently get pregnant during a casual sexual encounter and get public assistance, never having to pay or paying very little to have their child delivered.
Then, after the child is born, some parents build whole areas of their house around their newest family member, while others merely make small accommodations to their lives and incorporate a child into theirs.
Is it subjective? …the value of a human being?
Of course, I don’t think so, but it seems like many in our society do think that there is a price tag on people.
In our culture, the commodification and objectification of human beings has led to all sorts of disparity, from the hugely expensive quest for designer babies to the disposal of others, deemed unworthy through abortion.
The value of life
As I have become older and brushed with death a few times, I see the world differently than many people who have had a relatively consistent life with fewer extremes.
To me, every person conceived is of inestimable worth and value, no matter the circumstances of their birth and no matter the status of their parents or their socioeconomic status or even their perceived health and quality of life.
Abortion and the right to life have been a daily concern since I was threatened with my own murder if I didn’t abort. In my work as a pro-life advocate, I interact with people who hold every opinion under the sun about who is a person and who is not. At the first spark of life, I believe everyone has a right not to be killed. That doesn’t mean that I think everyone should accept interventions that prolong their lives. In cases where the person is unable to make known their decision, we have families. Our families should be able to make our decisions for us, not the courts or the state.
‘Slow Care’ protocol
The sad story of Charlie Gard has been all over pro-life and liberty loving circles. His parents had raised money to get special care for him, but were denied. A common practice of deliberate slow-care delayed them from obtaining help for him. I can understand if there is no care available or no money to obtain it, but they seemed to have those issues covered. I was not intimately involved and you may have your own opinion, but I think that if a family can provide care for their own, they should be allowed to. His life has purpose, even in his death. His family will see to that.
What of the little ones who’s parents don’t make the news? Intervention or no intervention is really their responsibility. It is kind of an ethical quandary to some, who question the possibility of child abuse. If they can deny care, is it abuse? We still live in civil society where it is against the law to abuse or neglect those in our care. Of course, we don’t want anyone to suffer, but careful consideration is the parent’s responsibility.
We all die.
It is an unfortunate inevitability. It is still completely against my view to intentionally take a life because of some question of whether or not they might have some subjective quality of life. That’s not a standard we should look at. Not for a moment.
For a couple of years, I experienced unrelenting pain that I actually thought would kill me. I couldn’t even imagine what life would look like if it continued. It had waxed and waned for as long as I could remember. My doctor, a naturopath, gave me some supplements and dietary changes that didn’t seem to alleviate the pain at all. It may have helped. I’m not sure what actually helped me to come out of that state, but the pain is less now. I can enjoy my children and grandchildren and others around me.
What if I’t been a common practice to kill people after a certain amount of time or a level of depression? What if their family didn’t want the financial, emotional, or physical burden of taking care of them, even for 6-9 months?
Mothers who abort their babies are making that choice. If they know immediately that they are pregnant, it’s about a nine month commitment. After that, they can place the child in someone else’s care. I knew I was pregnant with my second daughter within hours. I’d been abstinent before and after, when confirmed, I wasn’t shocked. So, I know that happens.
I risked my own life for my first child, who was born as a result of juvenile sex trafficking. My buyer said he’d kill me, if I didn’t abort. Her life was worth more to me than my own.
What do you think a baby is worth?