A 22-year old woman was recently shot here in Dallas as she lay in her bed.  A bullet from what appears to have been random gunfire from an adjacent overpass came through her window and struck her in the back as she slept.  Her baby, about 1 month from full-term, was struck in the head and died.

This is a tragedy for this mother, her family and friends and for the whole Dallas community.  I am confident that if the shooter(s) are found (seven shell casings were found) they will be charged at least with manslaughter, and perhaps with murder.  At over 5 pounds in weight and 36 weeks or so in gestation, the child was viable.  But to me, this points out a more heinous, less public tragedy that occurs daily in our city and across the country.

With regularity and seemingly with impunity doctors, "social workers" and others conspire to take the lives of our most innocent citizens - babies in the womb.  Legal arguments and stare decisis aside, there is no one thinking rationally who can reasonably claim this child was not a child, but a product of that mother's body.  The boy was not one of her organs, nor was he a waste product.  He was a "he," a little boy, for whom plans were being made and about whom dreams were being dreamed.  Yet some would argue that up to the moment of first breath, he was but a "fetus," whose disposal was at the whim of his mother.

When does life begin?  I can't rightly say.  My gut says at conception, but there are medical reasons, in terms of viability and such, that argue against that viewpoint.  My Bible tells me that I was known even before I was knit in my mother's womb.  Well, that would be before conception, wouldn't it?  I believe medical science now puts viability somewhere around the 26th week, although a child at that stage would have a struggle to survive.  But practical, common sense says that once you know the baby's there - it's there.  You are pregnant with a child.

A child is a blessing of the Lord, so says the Scripture.  In most cases the child is the result of intention and planning.  In others, the child is a blessed surprise.  But in some cases that blessing is the consequence of inappropriate or even wrongful actions - illicit sexual relations, a one-time dalliance, perhaps even a rape.  But the Scripture doesn't deviate for circumstances.  A child is a blessing from the Lord.  When understood in those terms, that child can and will change the lives of both mother and father.

Family life is all about commitment to one another and to the future.  This is the reason it is called the foundation of any strong society.  The commitment to another person to remain faithful to them tends to curb the wayward tendencies of both parties (historically more-so the male of the species).  When the life of a young dependent is added to the mix, further settling is a natural result.

Men (and women) who recognize these responsibilities and take them seriously become what we call "the backbone of society."  They curb their enthusiasm for more temporal pursuits and begin to strive for the best future for their progeny.  In so doing, they collectively become responsible, mature adults.  They still make irresponsible and immature decisions but on balance their lives are dominated by what is best for the child.  Collectively "what is best for the children" is a long-term look at life that melds into "what is best for society as a whole."

So, back to the case in point.  Was it murder, or at least manslaughter?  Yes, because either charge requires a living person to have been killed (our prayers go out to that family).

But at any point in any pregnancy (I believe third trimester abortions are illegal in Texas because of the standard of viability), ending that pregnancy artificially is at least akin to murder.  The life of that child, whether it be in its developmental stages or past the point of viability, has been cut short.  The changes the baby would have made in its parents and extended family and friends, be they biological or adopted, will not occur.  Society is poorer for it.

Look around.  We are beginning to reap what we have sown as a result of our lack of care for the weakest among us.  More on that in future postings.