THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412070141
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Guest Column
SOURCE: BY BEVERLY SNYDER
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
There is not one person in this nation who believes Michael and Alex Smith deserved to die at the hands of their mother. The two boys were caught innocently in the not-so-innocent complexities of adult life. These helpless, dependent children knew nothing of the circumstances in which they were involved. They knew only of their unconditional love, trust and loyalty for their parents.
Why does this loss of innocent life enrage America? We are disgusted and hostile toward Susan Smith because ``how could she murder her own children?'' After all, it is unnatural for a mother, the caretaker and bearer of life itself, to end it so matter-of-factly.
We are angered because we understand the vulnerability of children to the choices of adults. They are involved completely and yet are completely voiceless in the world of grown-ups. Bad choices hurt innocent children. Sometimes those choices kill them.
In America's mind, there is a picture of two innocent, helpless boys strapped in safety seats at the bottom of a cold and murky lake. We know those boys, bound by emotional and physical dependence, trusted their mother to the very end. If ever there was a picture of betrayal, this is a powerful and sickening one.
Months ago, there was hope of a bright, new tomorrow. The future whispered promises and held so many possibilities. But, there were two problems: those children. They were obstacles to the fulfillment of new dreams and goals. What was Smith to do?
This society lives a double standard regarding the value of human life. We vehemently support the legal right of a mother to end the life of her fetus. In America, a baby in the womb, innocent, helpless and vulnerable to the choice of adults, lives in jeopardy.
The child's life can be snuffed out because we give mommy that liberty.
But why should we stop there? Let us legalize the murder of all people if they are unproductive, dependent, helpless or vulnerable - especially if these people are children.
The state grants protectable human status to a viable baby. But viability is far more than breathing independently; it is having the ability to live. Just as a fetus can die without proper care, food and protection, so can a full-term baby (or older child) die without the same care, food and protection. Both can die because of our choices. Both are completely helpless and entirely dependent on others. Both need our commitment and assistance to live. So, truly neither is viable outside the care of others.
On the one hand, America defends a mother's right to choose, and on the other, America despises a mother for her choice. Why the difference?
It lies in our ability to deny the existence of what we cannot see. We have no conscious contact, no name, no face, no fingers or toes, no smile or laugh, no cry, no warm human body to deal with. We can deny this person's humanity for any reason whatsoever. He or she is just a mark on a home pregnancy test. Once born, this baby suddenly involves us as mother or father, friend or neighbor. In an instant, we realize the humanity of this once-invisible person. This undeniable reality makes the taking of this life unimaginable, unthinkable, unspeakable.
What double-speak and double-mindedness! Americans, do we really value life? Who are we kidding? MEMO: Beverly Snyder lives on Meadowbrook Lane in Chesapeake.
by CNB