Haven't had the time or inclination for serious posting lately; thus, the silly coffee stuff.
But today is different; I heard this morning on the Today show that Susan Torres had her baby, by Ceasarean section. The baby is premature, and tiny (less then 2 pounds), but apparently doing OK.
I'd blogged about this very sad situation here. A commenter had asked a couple weeks ago, "What happened? Did we ever hear?" and I tried to post about it then but just as I was about to hit "publish", I lost my wireless connection and thus the whole post. Just didn't have the time to re-write it.
But now we know. We know that the baby is alive, which surely must bring some joy to Susan's suffering husband and relatives.
Still, there are an awful lot of rocks that have been thrown into that young man's cart. I pray that he will continue to get lots of help in pulling it.
UPDATE: Jim S. comments below, adding this moving essay as found on The Corner. The essay was written by Susan's brother-in-law, who is part of this online magazine. Thank you, Jim; I hadn't seen that.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
A serious post
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I knew that you would comment on this. I grabbed the following from NRO's the Corner:
LIFE TODAY [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
From Justin Torres, Susan's brother in law (written before her daughter's birth and her death):
In this midst of this tragedy and the grief that lingers like a context, like a fog, over every conversation and meal and moment in the hospital, we have hope. Doctors believe that they may be able to save this baby, keeping Susan alive long enough to deliver the child prematurely. It is no more than a fighting chance, far less than a certainty, that the baby will live. But we have hope. Keeping this baby alive is Susan's last act of love, one that has been tremendously moving to watch even as it makes you question everything you thought you knew about the fundamental justice of the world.
But this is where abortion, and the utilitarian mindset that it engenders concerning the sanctity of human life, steals its way into this tragedy. I think of it as "the moment," the little whisper of hesitation, shared not just by the doctors but even by my family. It's the moment in which you think, is this right? Are we doing the right thing? Wouldn't it just be better to let go, start over, find closure?
Once the soothing clichés start, it is difficult to make them stop. You have to force yourself to remember: this is a child's life. And children are always a good thing, devoutly to be wished for and fiercely to be fought for.
For my family, the moment was no more than a hiccup. Still, it is clear that for some of the doctors involved in this case, the decisions my brother and Susan's parents have made are foolish. That is the effect of abortion: that it has in various, subtle ways sapped the intrinsic human impulse to fight for the good of children.
I don't wish to be too harsh, and I certainly do not wish to suggest that these doctors - many of whom have taken enormous and personal interest in Susan's case - are in any way agents of the culture of death. These doctors are trained to assess chances and deploy resources where they are most effective. I respect that. We are here to fight; it's their job to tell us the truth and give us their realistic assessment. And many of them are fighting alongside us, to my immense gratitude.
But I wonder. Fifty years ago, medicine could not have done what we are trying to do. But I suspect that if it could have been done, no one then would have hesitated. The answer would have been, Of course, we must try to save the child, because saving children is what medicine is meant to do.
Thirty years after Roe, we have not yet fully come to understand all the ways that abortion has distorted our culture, coarsened it, made it less loving and less noble. The moment of hesitation I describe is the culture of death whispering insinuations at us. It is important that we continue to shout truth from the rooftops to drown out its voice.
Powerful stuff. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Frist's twist.
JAS
Post a Comment