Precious Baby Girls

As the father of a girl adopted from China, I cannot help but be drawn into recent stories about forced abortions in China.  The work of blind activist Chen Guangcheng is relatively well-known by now, what with his brushes with the law as a result of his attempts to shine a light on late-term abortions and sterilizations.  More recently, a graphic photo of a forced abortion on a woman seven months pregnant went viral, sparking outrage and shock.

No one will ever know what Jada's situation was while she was in her biological mother's belly, but it's not at all improbable that abortion was contemplated.  By whom and how seriously I don't care to think too hard about, because it fills me with utter horror to even think about the possibility of never getting the chance to meet her and have her as my daughter.

It is a fundamental belief that every person is unique, that every person is special, and that every person is equal.  So it saddens me deeply to see so many precious baby girls terminated and discarded before they even got a chance to see the light of day.  When I consider how much joy Jada has brought into our lives, it pains me something fierce to know that other Jadas will never get such an opportunity. 


I have a habit of always qualifying my remarks, of trying to keep an open mind about both sides of an argument and of avoiding blanket statements.  But this I will say without reservation or qualification: when we allow such atrocities to go on, humanity is far, far poorer as a result.