d.: hey, Cal.E., did you know that the monarch butterfly is actually a moth?
C.: I didn’t…
d.: In fact, all butterflies are specialized moths.
C.: ??? What does this have with teaching T and me how to play Pong?
d.: Nothing, but I wanted to make a point.
C.: Which is?
d.: That things aren’t always what the seem to be. I put the picture with the caption under it at the beginning of the blog to introduce the subject of today’s blog. This picture is inside of staff writer Julian Gill’s column in the Houston Chronicle (March 24, 2024 p. 16A). This is supposed to be a column written by a news reporter but really belongs on the op/ed page.
The staff writer is trying to make the point that the adoption campaign received four million dollars from the state government for this campaign. Hmm, if I had that much money in my retirement account, I may be able to retire, in twenty years! What this staff writer didn’t say was the Planned Parenthood, who stands on the other side of the abortion/adoption issue, was given 1.54 BILLION dollars by state and federal governments last year.
There are over thirty thousand children in the Texas Foster Care system, many of whom are taken care of by Christian adoption agencies. Yet, these agencies are willing to increase that number by advertising, even though the workers make less than forty thousand dollars a year, and foster parents are paid a maximum of $23.04 a day. Yes, they are given food from WIC programs, but must buy their own diapers. Please go to Walmart.com and see the list price of a package of diapers that may last two weeks if the parents are lucky.
When I was in nursing school, I was taught that, to write a competent scientific paper, I must look at both sides of the issue; not just the side I agreed with and give facts from both sides of the research I did. This writer neglected to do that. Perhaps nurses are taught better writing techniques than journalists, if this writer can be called one.
As a nurse at a prison, I see a lot of inmates who are from adoptive and foster families. One young man told me that he was disappointed in himself for letting his adoptive parents down, and that he would never do that again. I’m sure that he didn’t because he was sincere.
I’m not saying that abortion should never be implemented. Rape, incest, and a case when the mother’s life is threatened are all legitimate reasons for adoption, but “ bodily impairment” is an ambiguous term. What if the mother is only worried about the weight she will gain and never be able to completely take off? Is that bodily impairment that legitimizes an abortion?
As an adoptive parent who adopted through foster care and a nurse, I won’t try to hide which side of this issue I stand on. My wife and I both desperately wanted children but suffered secondary infertility. Now, though, I wouldn’t trade any of my three sons for one that had my DNA. The first time the CPS worker put my youngest son in my arms, I knew that he was our baby, even though he was supposed to be only a foster child.
We did have an open adoption. Our sons kept in contact with their mother until she ended communication. It was her choice. This writer said that adoptive parents can change their minds about communicating with the birth mom, but that’s not true. An adoption can be terminated if adoptive parents don’t follow the terms of the adoption to the letter of the law. It can and has happened. If, however, the birth parents decide to terminate communication with the child, or just decide that they made a mistake and want the child back, their wishes are usually honored. One such case was highly-publicized a few years ago. An adopted child in Stafford was given back to his birth mother after spending the first three years of his life with his adaptive parents. And this is in the child’s best interest?
I personally have known two women who opted to carry their babies to term, even though the babies weren’t expected to live. The first ladies’ baby died in utero at six months, but she carried the baby to term and delivered him. The second lady’s baby was born without a brain stem, as she had been told she would be. It was her first child, and she said that she just wanted to hold the baby for however long it was alive. The baby died three hours after birth. I admire these ladies’ strength and conviction to stand by their principles, but not everyone was as strong as these two courageous women.
In nursing school, nurses are taught that the mother’s life is the priority in a life-threatening situation. Apparently, the repealing of Roe V. Wade has confused that issue. However, if these so-called journalists would take the time to talk to someone who is an Ob-Gyn that delivers babies or a nurse in a delivery room, they may have a different perspective on some of these articles. However, most just want to prove their point without presenting both sides of the issue.
Okay, Cal.E., on with the lesson.
C.: Not now, d.c., I must call all fourteen of my kittens ASAP!
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