Casey Anthony and the pro-choice culture of death

Casey Anthony (Wikimedia)

There has been a huge public outcry over the acquittal of the Florida mother accused of killing her two-year-old daughter.  Casey Anthony was acquitted of the murder charges against her, but convicted on four counts of lying to police.  She will be set free after the next week after being credited for the time that she has already served.

Like O.J. Simpson, Anthony was acquitted in the court of law, but found guilty in the court of public opinion.  Her responsibility for the death of her daughter was taken for granted by the media and the millions of viewers who watched the trial on live television.  The titillating details of how she partied at Orlando nightclubs while little Caylee was missing stoked national anger against Casey.  A late June poll of west Floridians by WFTV showed that 92 percent believed that Casey killed Caylee.

Casey Anthony’s alleged crime might be described as a post-natal abortion.  If, as she is accused of doing, Anthony actually killed her daughter because being a mother interfered with her carefree lifestyle then her action is different from abortion primarily in that her daughter was two-years-old instead of an unborn baby. 

Peter Singer (Bbsrock/Wikimedia)

While the law does differentiate between unborn and born humans, there are actually people who advocate that actions similar to those for which Anthony was accused should be legal.  For example, Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University, does not dispute that unborn babies are living humans.  To Singer, however, that still does not mean that killing unborn babies is wrong.  In fact, Singer believes that abortion should be taken a step further.  In Singer’s view, even a newborn baby “has no sense of the future, and therefore is not a person.”  He says in an interview on the Princeton website that “killing a newborn baby is never equivalent to killing a person, that is, a being who wants to go on living.” 

There are other academics who have argued in favor of infanticide.  Steven Pinker, a professor of psychology at MIT, wrote an article for the New York Times in 1997 in which he argued that the right to life is contingent upon “having a unique sequence of experiences that defines us as individuals and connects us to other people, …an ability to reflect upon ourselves as a continuous locus of consciousness, to form and savor plans for the future, to dread death and to express the choice not to die. And there's the rub: our immature neonates don't possess these traits any more than mice do.”

In the same article Pinker cites other academics in favor of infanticide.  Michael Tooley, a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado at Boulder, says that it should be legal to kill newborns for a specific length of time after birth.  Psychologists Martin Daly and Margo Wilson have argued that if a newborn is seriously ill that parents must “decide” whether to “cut their losses and favor the healthiest in the litter or try again later on.”

James Watson, a discoverer of DNA and the first director of the Human Genome Project, had a similar view.  In 1973, Time magazine quoted Watson in an interview with an AMA magazine as saying “if a child were not declared alive until three days after birth, then all parents could be allowed the choice that only a few are given under the present system.  The doctor could allow the child to die if the parents so chose and save a lot of misery and suffering."

In the Netherlands, these ideas are already being put into practice.  In 2002, the Groningen protocol set forth standards for performing euthanasia on newborns with incurable deformities, but “the New Republic” noted that it could be applied to children as old as twelve.  Above the age of twelve, Dutch law already allows euthanasia with parental consent.  Dutch law prohibits involuntary euthanasia, but there are allegations that doctors are increasingly killing patients, both babies and adults, without consent or permission.  

While much of the support for infanticide is based on euthanizing the terminally ill, Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, was explicit in her support of infanticide for convenience.  Anne Barbeau Gardiner notes that Sanger wrote in “Woman and the New Race” that “the most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.”  In “My Fight for Birth Control” she sympathized with a drunken man who considered his newborn a “nuisance” and threw the “naked infant into the snow” because of he was “desperate for want of sleep and quiet.”  She also approved of “drowning girl children” during famines in China in her book “Pivot of Civilization.”

Margaret Sanger (Wikimedia)

It is a short leap from abortion to infanticide.  Even though abortion is typically defended on grounds of medical necessity it is commonly accepted that over ninety percent of abortions are performed for convenience or personal preference rather than medical reasons.  When leading philosophers, ethicists, and doctors dispute the immorality of killing newborns it is easy to see how infanticide for medical reasons could quickly degenerate to infanticide for convenience.   

This brings us back to Casey Anthony and the other mothers who have been accused of killing their children.  These women have been given an inconsistent message about both the humanity of their children and the immorality of killing them.  The legalization of abortion for convenience and the advocacy of euthanasia and assisted suicide have helped to cheapen human life to the extent that some  consider a newborn baby a nuisance to be discarded on the whim of the parent. 

It is an irrational act of cognitive dissonance to hold forth that babies, born or unborn, are not people and that killing them is not immoral and then be surprised when parents do just that.  If our society is determined to continue to walk the tightrope between life and convenience, it will continue to be complicit in the murders of children like Caylee Anthony.

 

http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/casey-anthony-and-the-pro-choice-culture-of-death"> 

Overcoming sexual abuse: The Wounded Heart by Dan Allender

Most prostitutes are victims of sexual abuse.

If you know more than a few people, odds are that you know someone who has been sexually abused. One study indicated that as many as 38% of women had been sexually abused by age 18 (Allender, rear flap). Sexual abuse victims are male as well as female, but girls are at a higher risk than boys.

Most abuse is committed by a family member or someone known by the victim. National statistics show that 29% of abuse is committed by family members and 60% is by acquaintances (Allender, p.92). Stop It Now! Georgia reports that in Georgia 82% of cases involve members of the immediate or extended family of the victim. Often the abuser was a birth parent (37% of cases) or a sibling (22%). Abusers can be men or women, but more often the abuser is male (95% in cases of girls and 80% in cases of boys) (p. 272).

If you are being abused, you can get help through stopitnowga.org or by calling 1-800-CHILDREN. The telephone call is free in Georgia and is confidential.

The effects of sexual abuse can be overcome. Dr. Dan Allender, himself a victim of sexual abuse, has written a fascinating book on the subject of overcoming sexual abuse. The Wounded Heart: Hope for Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse provides guidance and hope for victims of abuse as well as those who love them. Recent studies have shown that there is hope for abusers as well. They often respond to treatment and can rejoin society.

Allender begins with a discussion of the long term psychological effects of abuse. Often the victim feels dead inside, as if they are a zombie (Allender, p. 44). Often the victims feel shame for what happened to them. They fear both being exposed before the world (p. 66) and possible rejection as a consequence (p. 71). As a coping mechanism, they often place their trust in what Allender calls “false gods” (p. 74), which can include people, objects, or beliefs.

Abuse victims also frequently experience self-contempt. Self-contempt may range from physically destructive actions such as suicide or binging on food or alcohol or sex. The majority (66%) of prostitutes were sexually abused as children. The majority of these (again 66%) were abused by their father or a father figure such as foster father or stepfather. At the other extreme, self-contempt may take the form of something seemingly innocuous, such as not being able to accept a compliment (p. 80-82). Contempt serves to deaden both shame and longing for the victim, and makes them feel that they are in control. In effect, Allender calls contempt the “Great Masquerade” (p. 88) because it takes the place of sorrow and conviction over sin, replacing it with self-directed anger. Often anger masks the victim’s own pain and shame.

Allender also points out the stages of abuse. In some cases, such as a rape by a stranger, abuse is a single incident. In most cases, however, it is part of a pattern (p. 97-102). The abuser first gains the trust of the victim and draws them into secrecy. Next, physical contact is established in a manner that is not inappropriate. The abuser then takes the final step into full scale sexual abuse. In many cases, there are long periods of time between each step. Finally, in cases of ongoing abuse, the abuser may threaten or use special privileges to keep the abuse secret.

After the abuse, there are several common reactions that victims experience. First is a feeling of powerlessness. Not only was the victim powerless to stop the abuse, they were often threatened to maintain secrecy. Many victims respond by becoming numb or dead to escape the pain (p.117-122). This can translate into a dislike of their body, lying and deceit, or poor judgment in relationships.

Second is a sense of betrayal. This is especially prevalent if the abuser was a family member or if other family members were complicit in the abuse (p. 133-138). The fear of betrayal leads the victim to hyper vigilance, suspiciousness, and lack of objectivity. The victim focuses on each detail and overanalyzes them. This is because the victim questions the motives of people who extend kindness and warmth.

The third major symptom of sexual abuse is ambivalence. This is caused by the conflicting emotions due to stimulation of the senses in the abuse that is normally pleasurable and the shame of the abuse itself. This leads to more shame and possibly a fear of pleasure (p. 149-151). Many abuse victims view themselves as a whore, whether they live that sort of lifestyle or keep the image private in their fantasies (p. 155-156).

There are other symptoms as well. It is common for abuse victims to struggle with depression (p. 161), lack of self-esteem, and problems relating with others (p. 168-69). Sexual dysfunctions from lack of interest to addiction to perversions are also common in abuse victims (p. 164). A long list of dysfunctions such as “exhibitionism, voyeurism, pedophilia, homosexuality, transvestitism, and fetishism” is “often highly correlated to abuse” (p. 164). Abuse victims may suffer from a variety of compulsive disorders, such as bulimia, or the stress may manifest itself as a physical illness (p. 166-167).

Dr. Allender goes on to describe three basic types of personalities for abuse victims. Speaking female terms, the first is the Good Girl (p. 175). The Good Girl keeps her self-contempt hidden and often struggles with sexual fantasies. She limits and controls her emotions and is often viewed as unfeeling. She is a hard worker, often sacrificially, but does not ask for help. She doesn’t want conflict.

The Tough Girl (p. 178) is a hard woman who is suspicious and critical of others and often becomes angry at her perception of others. She views emotion and longing as a sign of weakness. People tend to keep their distance from a Tough Girl to avoid rousing her anger. The Tough Girl erects walls and thrives on conflict.

The Party Girl (p. 181) can be “intense or mellow.” Her moods are constantly changing. The Party Girl personality is a response to fear and ambivalence. She avoids commitment and flits from one relationship to another. The Party Girl has been described as “an emotional tapeworm” (p. 184) who is never satisfied.

The same victim can exhibit characteristics of each style of relating, depending on the situation. The common thread is that all are based on aspects of self-contempt. Each is also a coping mechanism that causes its own problems.

Mark 9:37

Thankfully, Allender does not merely dwell on the symptoms of abuse, but also prescribes a course of healing. Allender’s plan is a three-step process that is based on Biblical principles. The first step is for the victim to be honest with herself. Allender lists eight truths that abuse victims must be willing to acknowledge in order to move forward (p. 200). These truths include admitting to oneself that abuse has occurred, it has damaged her soul, and that healing requires change from the artificial coping mechanisms. Honesty may also require that the victim stop attempting to suppress memories that are being repressed.

Second is repentance. The victim does not need to repent of being abused, but for choosing to be dead, choosing to mistrust, and choosing to despise passion (p. 223). Allender notes the difference between repentance, admitting helplessness, and penance, which “presumes the ability to make amends on one’s own” (p. 221). Repentance softens the heart, while penance hardens it.

The final step towards recovery is forgiveness and bold love. Being able to love and forgive the abuser frees the victim from hatred and anger. In this context, love refers to the “commitment to do whatever it takes (apart from sin) to bring health (salvation) to the abuser” (p. 241). To heal herself, the victim should work to forgive the abuser. The victim should not seek revenge (but this does not preclude seeking justice) (p. 243-44).

These steps can (and should) be applied not only to the sexual abuser, but surrogates that often bear the brunt of the victim’s anger and even those who merely get on our nerves in a normal day-to-day manner. In many cases, the victim’s spouse becomes a surrogate for the abuser.

Whether the victim is you or someone you love, The Wounded Heart is valuable resource to help understand the emotions and actions involved. The one weakness is the book is the lack of an index. This article provides only a brief overview of the material presented. If you are or if you know a victim who struggles with the personality disorders that this book describes, I urge you to read the whole book, which actually comes with a money-back guarantee from the publisher. You have nothing to lose but your pain.

Source:
Allender, Dr. Dan B., The Wounded Heart: Hope for Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse. Navpress, PO Box 35001, Colorado Springs, CO, 1995.

Photo credits:
Prostitute by Tomas Castelazo
Scared toddler by NeonZero

Obamacare causes shortage of children's health insurance

A much ballyhooed provision of Obamacare was the requirement that insurance companies immediately begin covering children with new policies regardless of pre-existing conditions. In the legislative rush after Senator Scott Brown’s election, this provision was actually left out of the bill that finally became law. Without an effective date, it looked as though the provision might not go into effect until 2014 with most of the rest of the law. In response to the Democratic legislative boo-boo, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) quickly agreed that insurance companies would honor the intent of the law and immediately begin to issue children’s health insurance regardless of pre-existing conditions.

Recent reports indicate that the problem still might not be solved. In a striking lesson on economic incentives and the Law of Unintended Consequences, it appears that Obamacare‘s pre-existing condition provision might actually make it more difficult for parents to find affordable health insurance for their children.

In the past, child-only health insurance policies were relatively inexpensive. During my time as an insurance agent, such policies often sold for less than $100 per month. However, due to the recent regulatory changes, it has become more difficult for insurers to market child-only policies that don’t lose money.

The problem is that in the past parents had to buy policies for their children before they got sick. The premiums that they paid to insurers pooled the risk of illness for large numbers of children. Premiums went to pay for health care as well as administrative costs and, if the insurance company was well run, a profit.

Under the new law, parents no longer have to buy policies before their children become sick. In fact, the government has created an incentive for parents to wait until their children get sick to buy insurance. Because there will be a dramatic rise in the number of insured sick children, actuaries at the insurance companies realize that they will soon have to pay out much more in claims than before while premiums received are likely to stay low or even fall. Paying out more in claims without receiving more in premiums means that insurance companies lose money. If insurance companies lose money, they cannot stay in business.

In order to minimize their losses, some insurance companies are reportedly choosing not to sell child-only policies. Where parents could buy inexpensive coverage for their children in the past, they now must buy policies for the entire family in order to cover the children. It is also likely that the remaining companies in the child-only insurance market will increase their prices. Those companies who are not able to adapt will lose money and eventually go out of business.

It is likely that when (or if) the remainder of the Obamacare law goes into effect in 2014, a similar pre-existing conditions clause for adults will trigger an increase in premiums for other health insurance policies. We might even see entire insurance companies leaving the health insurance market or failing on a massive scale.

In the near future the Democrats will paint the situation as a failure of the markets and blame corporate greed rather than a failure of government control of the marketplace. They will probably portray another expansion of government power and control as the solution. In a vicious cycle, the new reform will have even more unintended consequences and require even more government regulation. This may even be part of a Democratic long-term plan to phase out private insurance companies and replace them with a single-payer plan.

It would be funny if it were not so tragic. The insurance reform that purported to lower costs and expand coverage is driving up costs and creating regulatory shortages. Less than four months into the elites’ grand plan to remake the American health insurance industry is in serious trouble and sinking fast.

Reform – Replace – Repeal

Sources:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36044366
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/health/policy/31health.html?_r=1
http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/110775-stronger-rules-for-childrens-health-coverage-may-raise-insurance-costs
http://www.ky3.com/news/local/96623269.html
July 30, 2010
Houston TX


Photo credit:
Tom Clare
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=947

The Arrival of Sarah H. Elizabeth

We found out that Sarah Elizabeth was on the way last December. The pregnancy was somewhat eventful. In the spring, Debi had a scare when pre-cancer cells were found in a routine exam. Miraculously, these cells disappeared a couple of months later.

Later, toward the end of the pregnancy, Debi’s blood pressure trended high. This necessitated numerous extra trips to both the doctor and the hospital, including one middle-of-the-night trip to the triage center at the birthing hospital. The doctor’s continually threatened to deliver Sarah earlier than the planned c-section date of July 28.

The final nail-biter was not health related. Continuing a tradition of almost not being at the birth, I planned to work until Sunday, July 27, and then come home for the birth the next day. I pre-arranged this with the company before starting that week’s tour.

On Saturday, July 26, our aircraft developed a fuel leak that grounded us in the tiny town of Easton on the eastern shore of Maryland. The company said that they would get me out the next day because they needed me to stay with the airplane just in case something came up with another Sovereign that also happened to be in Easton.

Sunday morning came and I called to check on my trip home. I was told that they were working on it and should have something in a couple of hours. Two hours came and went with no word. I called back and found that somehow my name had been dropped from the list of crewmembers traveling home.

A few minutes later, I received a frantic phone call from the travel office telling me to start heading toward the Baltimore airport, which was 90 minutes away. I called a taxi and, by the time he got there, I had a flight on Air Tran at 4:30 pm. It was now 2:00 pm.

The taxi driver scrambled toward BWI. As we approached the airport, the weather deteriorated. We went through one thunderstorm so heavy that it was difficult to see the road. When we finally arrived at BWI, I had less than an hour to check in and get to the gate.

Even though the Air Tran check-in line moved painfully slow, I quickly learned that my flight was delayed until after 7 pm. This was actually a good thing because, when I finally got to check in, I got the dreaded “SSSS” on my boarding pass. This, of course, denoted me as a selectee for additional TSA screening (in spite of my history as an FFDO and passing three FAA background checks). Several hours later, I finally boarded my flight to Atlanta. By the time I arrived, collected my bag, and drove home, it was Monday.

About five hours after that, the alarm went off. Debi actually woke up before the alarm. She had not dreamed about the baby for the whole pregnancy, but that night, she dreamed that she saw Sarah. In the dream, she looked a lot like Baby Ethan, but with gray eyes and a round face. The only time that I dreamed about Sarah, she was a toddler with shoulder-length, frizzy red hair. She looked like a baby Carrot Top.

So off we went. Debi was a good sport, when I stopped to get a biscuit. She couldn’t eat before the surgery, but I was hungry after my adventures the previous day. We pulled into Cobb Hospital in Austell, Georgia right on schedule around 7 am.

Debi checked in and got her ID bracelet, then they sent her up to the second floor. She marched to the nurse’s desk and proclaimed something to the effect of “I’m here to have a baby. Let’s get started!”

The nurses were a bit surprised at her enthusiasm, and took her into the pre-op area. They put in the IV and started going over the medical history forms. Debi put on a hospital gown and I put on scrubs. It was much more relaxed and less hurried than our experience with Ethan. I got a real kick out of the questionnaire that asked, “Do you think you might be pregnant?” As a last second thought, Debi told me to grab our camera.

The doctor, Scott Reynolds, showed up early and I joked that he must have a tee time that he had to make later. Everything was all set so the doctor decided to get started early. They wheeled Debi into the operating room and told me to cool my heels until they called for me. I remembered my experience with Ethan’s birth in which I sat my chair leg on an apparently very important cord in the operating room and vowed not to repeat it.

At long last, I was summoned into the operating room. Very carefully, I made my way up to Debi’s head. I congratulated myself when no alarms sounded. Shortly after, they started making the incision. I didn’t see this before, and noted that it was made with some sort of burning instrument. Debi noted it as well. She could tell that they were cutting and said so. Since she didn’t seem to be in pain, the doctors said that she would feel some pulling and prodding.

It wasn’t long before I heard Sarah cry. She cried before she was ever pulled out. When I finally saw her, the first thing that struck me was how long her toes were. The second thing I noticed was that she looked like Ethan. I remember the doctor saying that Sarah had made her first bowel movement as she was being born.

The medical people took her to a small table to check her out. Debi asked if I could cut the cord. I think that she was thinking more clearly than I was, because, like the camera, this had not occurred to me. I did cut the cord and a nurse took a picture of me doing so.

The next item of business was to let Debi see Sarah. They put the two of them together and another nurse snapped pictures of them with their heads together. Debi immediately noted that Sarah looked just as she had appeared in her dream that morning.

Then it was time to take Sarah to post-op. Debi asked me to go with her and I did. The respiratory specialist noted that she was making sounds like singing, which was actually fluid in her lungs. They put a mask on her and he tapped her back to expel the fluid. This made me flash back to my only surgery. After it was complete, I developed pneumonia and had to have a respiratory person beat on my back for several days.
I called the grandparents from the post-op room and let them hear their new granddaughter for the first time. By then, Debi was being wheeled out. She got to hold Sarah and I took their picture together again.

Gammy and Papa called to say that they were on the way with Ethan. They said that Ethan wanted to be there when she was born, in spite of the fact he cried when he saw Debi give a blood sample and threw up when he saw me get a shot. Oops. We thought we had prepared for every eventuality, but not that one! We finally explained to him that we needed to go ahead and let Sarah be born so that he could see her when he got to the hospital.

When we got to the room, the Mimi and Pops were in the waiting room. I took them to the room to see little Sarah and her mom. Gammy, Papa, and Aunt Genea arrived with Ethan a short time later. The first thing Ethan asked me was, “Did you tell the doctors I want to be an army man when I grow up?” I told him no, that he could tell them himself.

The second thing he asked me was, “Why are you a doctor?” I still had on my scrubs. And I must say, I did look a bit like George Clooney. At least in my own mind, I did.

From the very first moment, Ethan fell in love with his little sister. He wanted to hold her and hold her. He also wanted to pick her up and carry her. We drew the line at holding her, and he did that well. To distract him a little, Sarah gave him a gift of Revolutionary War army men and Lego army trucks. They say you can’t buy love, but a little bribe never hurts.

Times have changed. There was wireless internet in the hospital room, so I was able to email birth announcements and photos almost immediately. A small point of contention arose when I headlined the announcement with my chosen nickname for the baby: Sara Beth. We had agreed on the name Sarah Elizabeth, spelled with an “h.” Everybody thought it was a mistake when I dropped the “h” on the announcement. My point of view was that Sara Beth is a nickname and you can spell it more efficiently. We finally compromised that the spelling for the nickname would be “Sarah Beth.”

When I say “we,” I mean Debi and myself. Ethan did not like the nickname. To him, her name was “Sarah Elizabeth” and it was not going to be shortened. He liked the “h” too. At one point, he told me in no uncertain terms that her name was “Sarah H. Elizabeth.”

That afternoon, when it was time for Ethan to go home with his grandparents, it came as quite a surprise to him that Sarah would be staying in the hospital with Mama and Daddy. He was really upset that he had to go home without her. It took several attempts to explain to him that his little sister would be home in a couple of days. Even then, he still didn’t like it.

Sarah slept pretty well that night. After so much excitement on about five hours of sleep, so did I.

Debi’s pain continued for the next couple of days. Finally, on Tuesday night, alarms kept going off on some of the medical equipment. The nurses examined the epidural, which had been left in for pain control. After something leaked onto the bed, one of them finally noticed that the epidural line was kinked and that much of the medicine was not going to Debi. The pain and pressure that she felt during the c-section were not her imagination.

After the epidural was removed, things improved. Debi got up and around. Sarah learned to nurse. On Wednesday, we were finally cleared to go home. We dressed Sarah in the same pink outfit that Debi had worn when she went home from the hospital as a baby.

Since Debi had craved barbecue during the entire pregnancy and a Sonny’s was located beside the hospital, Sarah Beth made her public debut at the Sonny’s Barbecue in Austell, Georgia. She slept through the entire visit.

When we arrived at home, Ethan once again lavished hugs and kisses on Sarah. At one point, he surprised, and frightened, everyone when he walked over to her crib, reached inside, and picked her up. He was quickly and sternly instructed not to do that again.

Sarah Beth settled into a routine of sleeping, eating, and pooping. Frequently, she did more than one at a time. Occasionally, she did all three at the same time.

The routine was broken by a checkup with her new pediatrician. The doctor noticed a dimple on her rump that she examined closely. She informed us that this dimple was nothing to worry about, but that it was very similar to spina bifida. We thanked God that she was healthy.