The Texas Baby Purchasing Act of 2007

When I read this item on Talk To Action my blood pressure shot up several points.

The gist is this: A dazzlingly crass Texas Senator named Dan Patrick has come up with a proposal to pay $500.00 to mothers who will give up their babies for adoption within sixty days of birth. That is, if they are "qualified". What these qualifications might be is not mentioned. Sounds like baby selling doesn't it? Except that the proposal includes a line saying that the law against baby selling doesn't apply here. In other words, it's not baby selling because we say it isn't.

The idea behind this bill is to prevent women from having abortions. I'm all for that. But I still want to find Sen. Patrick and kick him where it will do the most good.

Why, you ask? While there are many things to hate about this bill, two scream out at me at the moment.

First, if this is such a good idea, why not more attractive to wealthier women? After all, many middle-class women have abortions because having children would limit their career opportunities, because they want children, or for a host of other reasons. How about a $500.00 tax break? Or a donation to her favorite charity? "Help Save the Children and get rid of your own unwanted child at the same time! What a deal!" Or are we saying that if your poor it's okay to sell your child but if you're rich, you're above that? In any case, it's an insult.

Second, and more important there is the part of the proposal that says the woman must be "qualified" to get the $500.00. It's one thing to abort a fetus you hardly know is there. Quite another to give up forever a living, breathing child you can hold in your arms. If this thing becomes law there will be mothers tearing out their hearts, perhaps hoping to use the $500.00 to help feed other children, only to find out they're not qualified because their child is too black, or too Mexican, or too handicapped for the state to consider adoptable. No child, and nothing else either. I can't think of a word ugly enough to describe that.

You really need to get the full impact of this thing, so go over there and read it for yourself. Let's hope this proposal winds up in the shredder where it belongs.