Others Centered

Jessica Coleman on Oprah.

My wife told me about the Oprah show today regarding a woman who is now serving jail time for the murder of her baby when she was 15. In short, her story goes as follows. When Jessica was 15, she became pregnant but hid the pregnancy. After giving birth to the baby in the upstairs bathroom of her house she put the baby in the closet. After eating dinner she went back upstairs and stabbed the baby because she thought he might be in pain and wanted to put an end to that pain. Her boyfriend and she decided to put the baby in a bag and throw him in a quarry. The baby was found six months later but they didn’t know she did it. After a while evidence came out that led to her arrest and conviction. She is now serving a six year sentence for the murder of her baby. People who watched Oprah are outraged by the leniency of this sentence but I take a different look at it.

We live in a society that, for the past 30 years or so, does not care about unborn life. We teach our kids that they should do whatever feels good. Sex is something they are going to have so be safe. There is no such thing as absolute right or wrong. Life does not begin at conception but when the mother decides she wants that blob of tissue thus turning from a lifeless mass to a precious baby.

The family has no value anymore because we have destroyed the sanctity of marriage. These kids are being raised with no values and no structure. I do not know about the specifics of Jessica Coleman but she has grown up in this society. While I personally believe that what she did is heinous and mind blowing, I look at it from the lens of the Bible where life is sacred. Our society does not value life and has made abortion legal up to almost any point before birth if the mother’s health, including mental and emotional health, is “in danger”. There are many people in this country who see no problem with delivering a “fetus” feet first to the neck, shoving a scissors into the base of “its” skull, and sucking out “its” brain before pulling “it” all the way out. This is not murder because a doctor at an abortion clinic did the “procedure”.

Why is what Jessica did any worse? I don’t really see the difference. She didn’t want this baby. He would have been a burden on her. This was a time in her life when raising a child would have been hard and maybe even an embarrassment. She was the mother and it was her body so she had the right to do with her body as she pleased. Sure she could have had an abortion but maybe she was scared. She could have done many things but she made a choice, and I thought being “pro-choice” was what we were teaching our kids. Fifteen year olds do not have a propensity for making wise choices but she made a choice nonetheless. Instead of having an abortion doctor suck out her baby for her, she delivered her baby, shoved him into a duffel bag and tossed him into a quarry.

According to the intent of our law, why should she be judged for murdering a part of her own body, a lifeless and unwanted fetus? Aren’t young girls told that life begins when the mother decides? That there isn’t such thing as right or wrong, only what you determine is right or wrong for yourself?

Just to reiterate, what Jessica did was terrible and was murder but that is looking at it from a Biblical perspective. What matters here is American law because once again, I see incredible inconsistencies and hypocrisies. A fetus is a baby if a mother gets shot while pregnant but not if she willingly sucks it out in a clinic. A fetus is a baby when a woman wants him/her and a doctor must remove him/her via c-section but not if she secretly delivers in a bathroom and throw him/her into a quarry. Our society is so screwed up and I have tremendous sympathy for this woman.

I read the message board on oprah.com and so many people expressed outrage towards Jessica and claimed that they have no sympathy for her. I would love to hear their position on abortion. It wouldn’t shock me if they were “pro-choice”. The difference here is that the baby was put into a duffel bag and thrown into a quarry rather than tossed into a red biohazzard bag like the aborted babies.

What is the right thing to do to Jessica? Should she have received a stiffer penalty? I really don’t know. You would have a hard time convincing me that what she did was any worse than what happens on a daily basis in this country. I honestly cannot say what the appropriate punishment for Jessica is. Our country is so messed up on this issue that nothing makes sense anymore.

I teach fifteen year olds and they make stupid decision all the time when left to themselves. The fact that they are lied to every day of their lives by television, movies, music, teachers, parents, and politicians does not help their already poor decision making. Where is Oprah’s outrage with the liberal politicians and judges who have made abortion legal? Where is Oprah’s outrage with actors and actresses who promote sex and abortion on screen? Where is Oprah’s outrage with musicians who glorify promiscuity through their music.

I believe in personal responsibility as strongly as anyone, but I have to have sympathy and compassion for anyone in Jessica’s situation because of the mess our country is in and the lies they hear. If a fetus is granted the choice of life, I pray that they meet our Loving Lord and Savior as early as possible, otherwise there will be many more stories like Jessica’s appearing on the Oprah show.