Life Affirming News
"Choose Life" – A Tribute
Most of us life-affirming folks love the phrase, "Choose Life.' That's good. But when using this phrase among God's people, something else needs to come first. The choice of life flows from trusting in our God who gave us life. This in turn flows from faith in God who has given us new life in Jesus. You may not be able to trust a god who says, "Choose Life or else." But you can most certainly trust in a God who says, "I chose to give My life for you."
So, when the Christian is faced with that crisis pregnancy or that end of life decision, our first question should not be, "What would God have me do?" Rather we should remind ourselves of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. This assures us that He loves us, forgives us, and will be with us to strengthen us. This assures us that nothing is ever hopeless. Then the "What would God have me do?" question really doesn't even need to be asked. It is usually pretty clear anyway! We can choose life because we have a God who chose us.
(Life Date Spring 2015, Dr. James I. Lamb)
We, members of Fort Wayne Area Lutherans for Life, would like to dedicate this issue to Mary Schram. Mary died at the age of 98 and was still active in our local LFL chapter. Her own mother was encouraged to abort Mary when the doctor found a problem. Mary's mother fired that doctor and found another who was willing to care for her and the baby. Not only was Mary born a healthy infant, her mother was able to carry 5 more children to birth. Throughout her life Mary lived for Christ and freely shared her faith.
Indiana Considers Drop Boxes for Abandoned Babies
by Kiley Crossland / WNG.org / March 4, 2015
Indiana could become the first state to legalize infant drop boxes, a controversial method for parents to safely and anonymously surrender a baby they might otherwise abandon.
The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Casey Cox, R-Ft. Wayne, unanimously passed the Indiana house in late February. Cox said his legislation is a natural extension of infant safe-haven laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Under those laws, parents are able to relinquish custody of an infant at designated locations—most often hospitals, fire stations, and police stations—with no questions asked and no legal ramifications. States shield parents from prosecution for abandonment or neglect as long as the child is surrendered without any signs of abuse.
But safe-haven laws require a face-to-face interaction at drop-off. Indiana's new law would eliminate that requirement and allow a mother in crisis to place a child in a secure, 2-foot-long "newborn safety incubator" that is heated and equipped with a motion sensor. She could leave without ever interacting with a person.
Dawn Geras, president of the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation in Chicago, said that, according to her count, more than 2,800 infants have been surrendered to safe-haven locations since the laws were enacted in 1999. Not many states track infant abandonment, but Geras said Illinois' data might reflect much of the country. Since the Illinois safe-haven law was passed in 2001, 103 infants have been relinquished, but another 72 were illegally abandoned, and 37 of those did not survive.
Critics of the law contend the plan eliminates a vital face-to-face interaction wherein staff are able to assess the mother's needs, discuss other options, and, if she decides to proceed with the surrender, at least gather medical history.
"If you use a baby box, you have stripped away that option," Geras said. "There's a lot of things that need to be done to improve safe-haven laws throughout the country, but that's not one of them."
Geras said her organization found that 25 percent of parents who initially planned to use the safe-haven law in Illinois chose to either keep the infant or put him or her up for adoption when given the chance to talk about other options.
Supporters, though, claim the proposed Indiana law gives another option to a woman who might unsafely discard or murder her child. They contend the box would be a last resort and would include a toll-free number where a woman could reach a counselor 24 hours a day who would ask her to surrender the baby in-person.
"We're giving her the power to do what's right," said Monica Kelsey, a firefighter, medic, and the president of Indiana-based Safe Haven Baby Boxes Inc. "We're hoping that these girls know that once they push that button, their baby will be saved." Kelsey was abandoned at birth at a hospital because she was conceived by rape. She suggested the boxes to Cox and is working to develop a prototype.
Kelsey said she is fighting for the boxes as a last-ditch effort to save the children of parents who decide that anonymous surrender is "the only thing they can do."
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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