Social Hypocrisy
March 18, 2008
In what I can call another case of social hypocrisy, the laws of the land are flaunted and abused to create niche crimes.
I highly disagree with the decision to charge homicide in these cases. In the name of family values and moral authority we have created a crime to persecute the weakest members of our society. When the government won’t go out of its way to provide birth control, abortions, or even provide a complete education in how not to get knocked up it has no business prosecuting this woman for killing her fetus.
Furthermore in this type of niche crimes, where do we set the limit? Under the rules as they are being applied here, any woman doing anything that ends up causing a miscarriage or stillbirth could be held legally accountable for the death. To put it into context a woman goes mountain biking, roller-blading, whitewater rafting or does some serious gymnastics and causes herself to miscarry an early stage pregnancy she might not have even know about would be just as liable to a charge of homicide through child abuse as one who uses cocaine. By all rights you would have to charge this mother just the same, but frankly the prosecutor wouldn’t. Why might you ask would they choose to prosecute one and not the other? The answer is pretty simple, race and money. The second woman I described is probably affluent and white.
Furthermore this goes beyond just homicide. If we are going to charge Charlene Green with child abuse for using a drug I want to know where they are lining up all the women who smoke during their pregnancy or in the presence of their kids afterwards. There are other potentially harmful effects related to exposure of other substances, not just from tobacco or or illegal drug use. Here is a list of potentially harmful substances that the prosecutors must charge for: bad diets, use of caffeine (even from chocolate), probably the paint used to fix up the nursery, questionable supplements or birthing practices, lack of proper sleep, sex during pregnancy, lack of sex during pregnancy, too much sex during pregnancy, not enough sex during pregnancy, thinking the wrong kind of thoughts, not playing music for your fetus, not socializing your fetus by everyone addressing your expanding belly. Those are all things which as silly as they sound could affect according to some in the medical community the health and wellbeing of your fetus. The same standards have to apply across the board to affecting your fetus or the charges against Charlene Green are nothing more than a social hypocrisy of niche crimes laid out for political gain.
It is all well and good to say we are morally bound to protect children from the horrors of society, but we have to draw a line somewhere. We also have to put up or shut up when we claim that sort of moral imperative. You can’t accurately say we are protecting children and apply protective laws to a fetus, and then give up the fight after they are born. If you are protecting their well being their will be good schools, good early childhood education, there will be money for their medical needs for the rest of their life, especially the ones you say a woman can’t abort but will have grave medical problems. It is all well and good to claim moral superiority because it is what is right, but when you do it for your own sanctimonious reasons, then you have neither morals no authority to dictate what anyone does with their own body.
Last but not least t as in this case to claim moral superiority that says it is god’s will for her to get pregnant, then any premature death and delivery must also be accepted as god’s will. To say on one hand the Almighty’s will is supreme, and then turn around and say a mortal woman not only disobeyed his will but openly did something to supersede and impede his will that the child be brought to full term is ludicrous. Either god wanted her to get pregnant and for it to end this way, or god had no hand in it and we as a society should have been offering every means possible to prevent or terminate any unwanted pregnancies.
The world has too few resources that we can keep having babies willy-nilly.
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2 Responses to “Social Hypocrisy”
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That is unbelievable that someone can be charged with that. While it is certainly reckless behavior I don’t believe that someone should be prosecuted for that. They are already being punished enough with the lose of their child.
@John@Juicy Maternity Jeans - They make a strong legal case for it, which really scares me, but the biggest problem is how poorly it is applied across the board. Laws need to be applied fairly to everyone regardless of race creed or color.