Are They Willing: Part II of III

The pro-lifers claim those unwanted children could be adopted by others. That’s also not easy to arrange, either by the mother-to-be, nor by those looking to adopt. Here in Montana, lawyers must be involved, and we all know how cheaply they work. If the birth mother is under the age of 18, she must have her own lawyer. She cannot sign a relinquishment and consent to adopt order until at least 72 hours after giving birth. She must also undergo at least three hours of counseling by the Department of Health and Human Services, or the adoption agency. She must also disclose who the father is, and he also must consent to the adoption, or the courts must terminate his rights. Those wishing to adopt must undergo scrutiny and be deemed suitable to adopt. They can lose the child at any time during the first six months if those making the home inspections deem they aren’t suitable to be parents.

The National Children’s Alliance tells me that in 2013, an estimated 1,520 children in the United States died of abuse or neglect. The Children’s Advocacy Centers served about 295,000 child victims in 2013. In 2014 that number had jumped to 315,000. The highest rate of victimization occurred in the child’s first year of life. Eighty percent of these cases involved neglect, 18 percent involved physical abuse, and 9 percent involved sexual abuse. Almost 80 percent of children who died from abuse suffered that abuse at the hands of the parent(s). The age of the alleged abusers broke down in this manner: ages 18 and older, 154,529 cases; ages 13-17, 26,294 cases; and under the age of 13, 20,040 cases.

From the Child Help site, I learned that among the industrialized nations, the United States has one of the worst records for child abuse, averaging between four and seven cases each day. There is a report of abuse of a child made every 10 seconds! These reports include physical abuse (28.3 percent), sexual abuse (20.7 percent), emotional abuse (14.8 percent), emotional neglect (10.6 percent), and physical neglect (9.9 percent).

There are many physical dangers the pregnant woman could suffer. According to the CDC, about 650 women die in the United States from the pregnancy or complications during delivery each year. Merck for Mothers reports a pregnant woman’s risk of developing a blood clot in her lungs or legs is four times higher than a non-pregnant woman’s risk. Pre-eclampsia (dangerously high blood pressure) affects 5-10 of every 100 pregnancies. The pregnant woman can suffer a pulmonary embolism (a sudden blockage of lung arteries). They could suffer a post-partum hemorrhage (excessive bleeding). Pregnant women can also suffer anemia, UTIs, depression, high blood pressure, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, obesity, infections, and/or hyperemesis gravidarum. Over 60,000 women in the United States nearly die during pregnancy or in childbirth every year. According to The Washington Post, maternal deaths in childbirth are on the rise in the U.S., there being an estimated 18.5 deaths in every 100,000 births. We have more maternal deaths than China!

From The Journal of American Family Physicians (February 2000), I learned that ectopic pregnancies affect 19.7 of every 1,000 pregnancies. While some of these miscarry naturally, most require surgical or medical abortion to prevent the death of the mother. The only solution for pre-eclampsia is delivery, no matter the length of the pregnancy. Pregnancy can turn chronic medical conditions into life-threatening ones (liver and kidney disease, as well as diabetes). Pregnancy-related deaths are on the rise in the United States. The low was in 1987, at 7.2 per 100,000 births. In 2003, that rate had doubled, increasing to 14.5 per 100,000 births.

According the the World Health Organization, the U.S. has about 16 million adolescent pregnancies annually. Stillbirths are more prevalent in younger mothers, and death in the first week of life is 50 percent higher when the mother is under 20 (that rate is higher yet in the first month of life). Rates of premature births, low birth weights, and asphyxia are much higher with younger mothers. All of these increase the risk of death and future health problems in the child.