I TOLD YOU SO!
by David Sisler
Babies are born all the time, most with very little notice beyond their immediate families. Occasionally, a baby’s birth will make the news when the situation is tragic, or if the little one is the first baby of the new year, or the first to be born in a new hospital. Otherwise, we little note, nor long remember.
The tragedy is that Georgia babies were making the news because their mothers were throwing them away. Unprepared, or unwilling, to care for the new life they had just delivered, hundreds of mothers abandoned their newborn babies in bathroom stalls, gas station rest rooms, dumpsters, or even, stuffed under kitchen sinks. And for mothers who so abandoned their babies, the law was justifiably harsh.
In October, 2001, and again in March, 2002, I wrote columns urging the Georgia state legislature to move into the modern era and join states across the nation who were giving those mothers – and their babies – an alternative. That alternative was the “Safe Place for Newborns Act,” (SPNA) a measure that would allow mothers to leave their babies with a recognized health care agency, free of the fear of criminal prosecution. The children could then be properly cared for and adopted into a loving family.
The SPNA of 2000 was passed in the Georgia House of Representatives, but was defeated in the Senate. And babies continued to die in dumpsters.
The SPNA of 2001 was passed in the Georgia House of Representatives, but was defeated in the Senate. And babies continued to die in dumpsters.
“Baby Grace” was pulled alive from a Savannah dumpster in January, 2002. A baby was found dead in a Thomson apartment building in March, 2002. Finally, enough became enough and the measure passed. Finally, the babies became more than statistics.
Last May the Senate switched to the winning side – to the side for life – and the Safe Place for Newborns Act was finally passed.
Senators who earlier did not want to offend the pro-abortion crowd finally voted for life over death. Senators who earlier said the state should not get into the baby business finally said these lives should be saved. Senators who earlier said such a measure promoted irresponsible behavior became responsible themselves.
Writing for Morris News Service, Dave Williams reports that since the SPNA was enacted, 14 babies, less than a week old have been dropped off, not in dumpsters, or in gas stations, but in hospitals or clinics in 10 Georgia counties.
Rep. Sue Burmeister, R-Augusta, gave voice to what the critics ignored for years, while babies were dying: “That’s 14 people.” Now Ms. Burmeister’s quote said more than that, but those three words are the key – that’s 14 people! And they deserved to live.
Critics said mothers would continue to drop their babies in dumpsters. And maybe they have. Proponents of the Safe Place for Newborns Act said it would save lives. And it has. That’s 14 people! Safe and sound. Alive and well. Fourteen!
I told you so!
Now, let’s move to stop the murder of unborn babies.
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Copyright 2003 by David Sisler. All Rights Reserved.
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