Just when you think you have it all figured out, Satan drops another bombshell. In the news this week is a local family where the step-father has been arrested for the sexual abuse of his 11 year old step-daughter. If that isn't enough to make your heart shutter, the 11 year old is pregnant.
Unfortunately, due to my years as a child advocate and working closely with the Department of Social Services this is not the first time I have heard this tragic story. Yes, sometimes the child victim is also the mother of an infant who needs protection. Adults who want to protect the infant often lose sight of the fact that the infant’s mother is also a victim and needs protection. These situations are so convoluted that sometimes paper and pencil are needed to map out who is who.
It would truly take a team of professionals working quickly to gather information to council the child and her care givers. Unfortunately, it may well be that the blood family are not capable of putting the child's best interest first. Obviously, in this case, bringing in a new father figure, the mother failed to make a wise choice. And the child’s fate is likely in the hands of state workers. But, I digress.
My adult daughter called to ask my opinion of abortion in this situation. She knew how strongly I appose it. "But what if the mother is only eleven?"
When my daughter was 11 she was very much a little girl, as I was at that age. I know she was thinking that an 11 year old could not easily have a baby. Although, abortion to protect the life of the mother is often used to argue why abortion needs to be legal; in actuality this is extremely rare. It has been reported that it is less than 1%. Would abortion to save the emotional life of the child be acceptable?
At what age is the mother still a child and the abortion is essential? 11, 12, 13? And how advanced is the pregnancy? There are so many caveats to this question. There are no easy answers. I suppose this is why pro choice-pro life and Roe vs. Wade is still being argued. Either way the child is scared for life. Doctors may deal with the physical and emotional; however, only God can heal the heart.
Unfortunately, due to my years as a child advocate and working closely with the Department of Social Services this is not the first time I have heard this tragic story. Yes, sometimes the child victim is also the mother of an infant who needs protection. Adults who want to protect the infant often lose sight of the fact that the infant’s mother is also a victim and needs protection. These situations are so convoluted that sometimes paper and pencil are needed to map out who is who.
It would truly take a team of professionals working quickly to gather information to council the child and her care givers. Unfortunately, it may well be that the blood family are not capable of putting the child's best interest first. Obviously, in this case, bringing in a new father figure, the mother failed to make a wise choice. And the child’s fate is likely in the hands of state workers. But, I digress.
My adult daughter called to ask my opinion of abortion in this situation. She knew how strongly I appose it. "But what if the mother is only eleven?"
When my daughter was 11 she was very much a little girl, as I was at that age. I know she was thinking that an 11 year old could not easily have a baby. Although, abortion to protect the life of the mother is often used to argue why abortion needs to be legal; in actuality this is extremely rare. It has been reported that it is less than 1%. Would abortion to save the emotional life of the child be acceptable?
At what age is the mother still a child and the abortion is essential? 11, 12, 13? And how advanced is the pregnancy? There are so many caveats to this question. There are no easy answers. I suppose this is why pro choice-pro life and Roe vs. Wade is still being argued. Either way the child is scared for life. Doctors may deal with the physical and emotional; however, only God can heal the heart.
“Because of the Lord’s great love
we are not consumed,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23
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