Thursday, December 30, 2010

Another Tiny Life Snuffed Out

The region is reeling from the news that a 2-month-old infant died of starvation and neglect in a West Philadelphia shelter. The "mother" and "father" are being sought for questioning and the couple's other children have been taken into protective custody. There are reports that an agency contracted by the city's department of human services checked on the infant a few days ago and reported that everything was hunky-dory. Babies, even ones this fragile, don't die of starvation in the course of two days.

Not to get graphic or personal, but how is it that people who don't even have a roof over their heads can continue to fornicate and reproduce? And where were the other children at the time their new baby brother was being conceived? One can say that animal instincts can overtake people in any circumstances, but even animals care for their young better than these two did. Apparently, the mother has skipped town.

When I was in college, I got into a rather public debate with one of my sociology professors about the inclination of certain segments of our society to reproduce outside of marriage with little or no means of caring for the innocent lives brought into the world. The professor accused me of being prejudiced (against who?) and ignorant. She asked me to consider that mothers without means of support repeatedly bring babies into the world because they are seeking love - to get and give love to a child. Perhaps this is the case in certain circumstances, but no one can convince me that love would induce a woman to continue to reproduce with a man incapable of caring for his family and then starve the resultant infant to death. Apparently, the mere fact that they were residents at this particular shelter meant that they had ample access to infant formula. Heaven forbid these mothers should breastfeed their babies, which costs next to nothing.

Meanwhile, on Father Z's blog, a commenter lamented that she and her husband are open to adopting children of any race, but because of the high number of babies being aborted, there simply aren't children available. There would be if someone would recognize abuse when they see it and intervene on behalf of innocent children who prematurely leave this world with the same level of care and concern in which they were brought into it. None.

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