Baby born with anencephaly to please jesus?

[Erinome]

Christians seem to really believe they have the moral high ground on so many different issues, but do they really?

Ever heard of anencephaly? It's a neural tube defect that causes babies to form without a significant part of the brain/skull. It's detected very early on in pregnancy, and babies born with this defect normally only live a few hours, though a very few live just a few days.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002547/

I first read about Heather Walker on cafemom. I was told I have to be a christian to understand, but that is an insult to my intelligence, and the intelligence of non-christians everywhere.

Heather found out her baby would be born with this defect early in her pregnancy. I've counseled several women who have shared her predicament, and all of them, whether "good christian" or not, terminated the pregnancy. It's the merciful thing to do, really. There is just no hope for a baby with this kind of defect, so for a mother to go on with the pregnancy, knowing her baby will be born without the top of it's head, and die shortly after being born, is just too much for most women.

Heather Walker didn't do that. Normally, I wouldn't have a word to say about it. I am pro-choice, after all, but the more I looked into it and realized the morally repulsive reality of the situation, the more infuriated I became.

So because Heather loved Jesus SO much, she thought it would be super virtuous of her to have her baby and use him as a prop in an 8 hour long, smiling-faced photo op, with 40+ members of her friends and family, only ending once her baby was dead. Her virtuous actions didn't end with that. After her baby died, she took those pictures, and is using them to benefit herself and her family financially, and spread the word that she so so unbelievably moral because she chose "life" for her baby.

They even took a picture of his lifeless body holding a small book entitled, "My First Bible".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pla...JuKJHx69sE

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Benefit-f...6448648145

Now, I thought about this for a while. I thought maybe I was just a bitch, because this woman's "touching story" made me want to hurl. I wanted to share this, and see if I am the only one, or if other people can see how this is exactly the sort of thing Hitchens was talking about when he said "religion poisons everything".

Women out there who find out that their baby has anencephaly are not murderers because they terminate their pregnancy. They're not monsters deserving the wrath of jesus, because they couldn't bring themselves to give birth to a baby with no brain, only to bury it a couple days later.

Heather Walker is not a saint, nor an incredibly moral person for exploiting her son, posting videos of slideshows, depicting a smiling happy family, and a dying brainless baby, who they refer to as "Our Little Servant". Is this what she's teaching her other kids is morally right? If so, I feel really sorry for them.

The truth is, I'm not morally offended by Heather's choice to go to term with her pregnancy, and have the baby. What offends me is the exploitation of the child, the gleeful smiles on the faces of those who participated, and the use of this tragedy to benefit financially. It's like the Hallmark card of christian backwardness.

Anyway, my aunt was also born with a neural tube defect called spina bifida. There were no ultrasounds back then, but my grandmother took excellent care of her, and she lived to be almost 40 years old, passing away when I was 12 years old. She was the spokes-child for The March of Dimes, and helped raised money and awareness for lots of children born with defects. Not one person could bring themselves to smile and pose for a picture as she laid dying. Just sayin'.

Thoughts? What the fuck kind of loving god would allow something like anencephaly to happen to an innocent baby, anyway?

[Kayenneh]

Euthanasia is the greatest gift that could be given to some lives, but so many are still against it. I agree with every point you made Alei, some hours of suffering is just so horrifying and to make a spectacle of it even worse. It was Walker's right to have her baby, but I can't help but judge how tasteless, vulgar and cruel she comes across for putting her child on display like this. No, I say, kudos to all the women who had the guts to do the best thing a mom in that situation could do, abortion to prevent the pain they knew their children would suffer.

[Erinome]

And now in one of the great American states... Arizona... Doctors are supposed to lie to their patients if they think it will prevent her from having an abortion. As if it's anyone's business, anyway!!

[Shell B]

No, I say, kudos to all the women who had the guts to do the best thing a mom in that situation could do, abortion to prevent the pain they knew their children would suffer.

The baby can't feel pain. It's not cruel. It has absolutely no feeling, consciousness, sight, hearing, etc. Whether they carry or abort, the baby is going to have no life to speak of.

[Reforged]

When I'm genuinely repulsed or shocked I laugh. Not sure why, I guess its because I've had to laugh at the dark side of life to stay sane-ish. I laughed my ass off for about a minute before going "Oh wow, what an evil bitch."
The video is just... surreal. She belongs in a padded cell.

[Erinome]

The baby feeling no pain is a consolation, but it doesn't change the fact that he was exploited and used for financial gain. How the mother could smile like that during that time... it just seems really fucked up to me. That's what killed me the most.

"I just had a baby with a NTD, who will die in a few hours.... CHEESE!"

[Kayenneh]

The baby can't feel pain.

Ah, my bad, I should have realized that the neurological damage would be so severe. I was just taken aback by the absurdity of the whole thing.



But then I guess it's ok to take advantage of the situation and milk as much money out of the child, since it doesn't feel a thing anyways. Why not play dress up with it for a few moments, before it truly dies? /sarcasm

[Shell B]

Oh, exploiting kids is not my favorite. I don't even like beauty pageants that involve more than a pretty dress and a cute kid.

It's a very rare birth defect, so it's not surprising that you didn't know it would be so severe. I had a friend whose mom did foster care. She took in a crack baby that was deaf, blind and always in pain. Obviously, it was too late to help that child, but it made me want to kill the woman who smoked crack while she was pregnant.

[Minimalist]

Even among xtians there are degrees of being ignorant shits. This woman is a black belt ignorant shit.

[Godscreated]

Euthanasia is the greatest gift that could be given to some lives, but so many are still against it. I agree with every point you made Alei, some hours of suffering is just so horrifying and to make a spectacle of it even worse. It was Walker's right to have her baby, but I can't help but judge how tasteless, vulgar and cruel she comes across for putting her child on display like this. No, I say, kudos to all the women who had the guts to do the best thing a mom in that situation could do, abortion to prevent the pain they knew their children would suffer.

First of all you should find out about things you comment on, the child does not suffer, they are not conscious or feel any pain, I do understand how some can see this as an unpleasant experience, however in the research I did the mothers that carried the child to full term, did not regret doing so. These mothers saw their child as a precious gift, and cherished the small amount of time they had with their child. They did not see having the child as cruel, instead they realized a chance to love a person that others would dismiss as unworthy of even a moments life.