The Faces of Life
The faces of Laci and Conner Peterson, Holly Patterson and Terri Schiavo serve to remind us of the importance of pro-life public policy.
Too often, pro-life issues become just that: issues. Pro-family activists argue for (or against) legislation based on broad moral principle, expected outcome and a shared vision for a more life-affirming society. The universal and collective nature of legislation and other forms of policy run the risk of making it an impersonal venture. We call members of Congress in support of a bill because of the positive overall effect the legislation will have on society, not necessarily because we know individuals who will affected by the result.
So, it’s interesting to note the emergence of a number of personalized pro-life bills in 2003. Certainly it’s not unusual for legislation to herald the name (or names) of individuals to benefit from its passage or honor the memory of those would have. Yet, 2003 seemed to be a year of putting faces on the cause of life, beginning with a brutal murder in California.
Police in Modesto, California began searching for Laci Peterson on Christmas Day 2002. Peterson, who was eight months pregnant, was last seen walking her dog the day before. The bodies of Peterson and her preborn son named Conner were found in April. Her husband, Scott, awaits trial on murder charges in connection with their deaths.
California is one of thirty states that recognize the killing of a preborn child by criminal act (as opposed to legal abortion) as homicide, prompting prosecutors to charge Scott Peterson with two counts of capital murder. This high profile case gained additional notoriety in May when Laci Peterson’s mother, Sharon Rocha, lobbied members of Congress on behalf of federal legislation (similar to California’s) creating a separate penalty when a preborn child is killed or injured in the commission of a crime against the mother. At Rocha’s request, the “Unborn Victims of Violence Act” was also named “Laci and Conner’s Law” in their memory. This legislation is pending in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.
A second California tragedy wrenched the hearts of Americans in September when 18-year old Holly Patterson died just days after taking the controversial abortion drug, RU-486. The drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000 for distribution under the brand name of Mifeprex. Holly started the chemical abortion regimen on September 10 of last year and died seven days later.
According to published reports, Holly signed a “patient agreement” at the San Francisco-area Planned Parenthood where she received the abortion drug listing its possible side effects, including bleeding and cramping. Holly experienced both and went to a local hospital on two occasions during that week complaining of pain. What Holly (and apparently medical personnel) didn’t know was that her “side effects” were signs of a massive bacterial infection stemming from pieces of her preborn child that remained in her womb. By the time she was admitted into the hospital, it was too late. Within hours, Holly was dead from septic shock.
Holly’s parents appear determined that their daughter’s death will not be in vain. In a recent letter, Monty and Helen Patterson ask members of Congress to pass the “RU-486 Suspension and Review Act of 2003.” At their request, the bill is also called “Holly’s Law.” (For more on this legislation and to read the letter, click here). In this heart wrenching letter, Holly’s parents ask federal officials to “take RU-486 off the market immediately pending an extensive investigation” in the hopes that other young women and their families will be spared the same tragedy.
Perhaps the top pro-life story of the year surrounds a woman who survived — Terri Schindler Schiavo. Forty-year old Schiavo is the profoundly disabled woman at the center of a raging controversy in Florida where her husband and parents are at odds over the continued use of a feeding tube to nourish her. Terri is unable to communicate her wishes and the family dispute centers upon what she would want and the subsequent medical decisions to be made on her behalf.
The legal battle over Terri’s continued care reached a pinnacle October 21 when the Florida legislature enacted a one-time law empowering Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to order the reinsertion of Terri’s feed tube, which was removed just days before. While the constitutionality of “Terri’s Law” faces a court challenge, the end result of this action is that Terri Schiavo is alive, narrowly escaping death by intentional dehydration.
The faces of Laci and Conner Peterson, Holly Patterson and Terri Schiavo serve to remind us of the importance of pro-life public policy. Laws protecting the vulnerable and defending the innocent are more than words printed on a page. Laws reflect the character and heart of a nation. In memory of those who no longer walk beside us and in honor of those who remain, may the “faces of life” propel us to make our nation a land of laws protecting all members in the human family.
Carrie Gordon Earll is the Senior Policy Analyst for Bioethics at Focus on the Family and a fellow with the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity.
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