Spring a time to think about start of life
April 17, 2012 5:48PM
Updated: May 19, 2012 8:03AM
Spring has arrived — a bit early this year.
Spring, for me, always brings back memories of happy times when everything becomes new again. And indeed, everything does seem to be renewed. Little wonder that the ancients celebrated spring’s arrival as the earth’s rebirth.
Certainly, life seems to “spring” up everywhere one looks. Spring and life go hand in hand. Which is the theme of this column.
When does life begin? Does it begin the moment sperm penetrates an egg? Or at the first drawn breath and wailing cry?
For me, the answer is moot. Life begins at conception. Life is precious at every stage. Too often the unborn child is looked upon as a thing disposed of when that child is inconvenient, or imperfect. It disturbs me that a child can be so casually dismissed from this life.
I’m not talking about a child conceived through an act of rape, or incest. But I hear it over and over again — an unplanned pregnancy or an unborn child with some sort of health issue. A woman is “encouraged” to discard it.
I’m not ignoring the difficulties families face when a child is born with health issues. But we no longer live in the 15th century. Children born with Down syndrome, for example, no longer need to be hidden from view.
Parents with a child who has health issues no longer need to feel ashamed.
Thanks to brave, stubborn, innovative people, there is a growing network of support systems that help others find ways to make life easier because every child is a blessing. Thanks to technology, we are able to be forewarned about potential problems.
But that shouldn’t mean that technology should be used to destroy a living being.
Every day, we learn more and more to help the child born with problems that once were cause for dismay.
Spring is here. Life springs forth. Choose life!
What do you think?
Write to Gaby Arnhart at
arnhartl@aol.com.
