God's Gift?

There's a Catholic social club, The Knights of Columbus, here in town. One large wall of the building faces a Planned Parenthood clinic. They don't do abortions at the clinic, just education, healthcare screenings and birth control. On the large wall of the Knights building facing the clinic is a bold sign that reads, "Life. God's Greatest Gift!" Here's a page for their consideration. It is a page for anyone who is steadfast in their belief that abortion should never be an option.

I see incarcerated juveniles on only rare occasions but I can tell you this, they are never normal. They are alternately starved for caring and affection or suspicious and hostile. Criminal juveniles remind me of abused animals. That would be because they are just that. When I look at these photographs and read the associated stories three thoughts come to mind:

First, I hope that neither of my children ever run seriously afoul of the law. I can't ever imagine a reason but I know it can happen. Sometimes it's accidental, sometimes circumstantial. If a child of mine were faced with incarceration I would be filled with an unbearable sadness.

Second, I cannot imagine the cascade of social and familial misfortunes and neglect that drive kids to criminal acts and prison. It is human failure of the highest magnitude. When I see a parent neglecting a child, hitting a child, ignoring a child, it breaks my heart. Seeing such behaviors I fear for the child and I fear for the society he will one day populate as an adult.

Third, I am always left to think of the many who condemn abortion of an unwanted pregnancy and, likewise, am left to wonder-- how many of those stand ready to intervene, to take action as foster or adoptive parents and provide a life that's whole and affords substantial opportunity for the unwanted infant? How many of those who would dictate another person's choice fill there homes with even a few of the unwanted children, many of whom are physically, mentally, and emotionally damaged for life? How many of those are eager to have their taxes raised in an effort to fund the education and resources needed to prevent these pregnancies, to house the unwanted products of these pregnancies, and to continue to increase our prison capacity?

The volume of unwanted, neglected, abused, and abandoned children in this well endowed nation of ours is a testament to nothing less than a living, breathing, legacy of social failure. God's Gift? Not from my perspective. Challenge, perhaps, but not a gift.