I’ve spoken for years about the blaring inconsistency between a woman who is criminalized and sentenced for killing her newborn baby and the fact that she would have received protection and sympathy if she had hired someone to do it for her just a few months earlier.
And I’ve spoken of slippery slopes that one only slightly more perceptive than a rock can see…
So here we go.
“From the Court of Queen’s Bench (the appellate court) in Alberta:
The Wetaskiwin, Alta., woman convicted of infanticide for killing her newborn son, was given a three-year suspended sentence Friday by an Edmonton Court of Queen’s Bench judge.
Katrina Effert was 19 on April 13, 2005, when she secretly gave birth in her parents’ home, strangled the baby boy with her underwear and threw the body over a fence into a neighbour’s yard…
Effert will have to abide by conditions for the next three years but she won’t spend time behind bars for strangling her newborn son.
Indeed. As Judge Joanne Veit puts it:
“While many Canadians undoubtedly view abortion as a less than ideal solution to unprotected sex and unwanted pregnancy, they generally understand, accept and sympathize with the onerous demands pregnancy and childbirth exact from mothers, especially mothers without support,” she writes… “Naturally, Canadians are grieved by an infant’s death, especially at the hands of the infant’s mother, but Canadians also grieve for the mother.”
Gotcha. So a superior court judge in a relatively civilized jurisdiction is happy to extend the principles underlying legalized abortion in order to mitigate the killing of a legal person – that’s to say, someone who has managed to make it to the post-fetus stage. How long do those mitigating factors apply? I mean, “onerous demands”-wise, the first month of a newborn’s life is no picnic for the mother. How about six months in? The terrible twos?
Speaking of “onerous demands”, suppose you’re a “mother without support” who’s also got an elderly relative around with an “onerous” chronic condition also making inroads into your time?
And in what sense was Miss Effert a “mother without support”? She lived at home with her parents, who provided her with food and shelter. How smoothly the slick euphemisms – “accept and sympathize… onerous demands” – lubricate the slippery slope.” from National Review’s The Corner
34 comments
Life is life, whatever the stage is, from conception to death, life is precious and ending it by other means then the way God as intended is murder, so why making excuses for murder?
I read about this last week at a different site, which briefly quotes Mark Steyn, and has additional commentary which is quite thought-provoking.
http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/09/16/thrown-over-the-fence-infanticide-canadian-style
You are right, Kelly, that this is the slippery slope we’ve all been warned about. Devaluing life at any stage leads to devaluing life at every stage.
It’s really appalling that “onerous” demands are enough to justify such outrageous behavior. This line of logic opens the floodgates. Do we honestly place comfort, convenience and the general lack of hardship above law and life? This judge has essentially set a precedence of legalizing every crime that eases someone’s hardship. Terrifying.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Kelly. The precedent that was set with this judge’s decision is horrifying. For too long our society has made excuses for those who have perpetrated evil, treating the offender as more of a victim than the actual victim of violence him/herself. And now a superior court judge has wholeheartedly (cold-heartedly) embraced in her decision that skewed and morally reprehensible philosophy that the “demands” of life give people a reason to end the life of an innocent person. I am just sickened…that poor sweet little boy.
Grieve for the mother… yes… grieve that she had no hope, grieve that she knows nothing of love and compassion, grieve that years from now this will haunt her. Do not grieve she went through a natural process of pregnancy and childbirth!
I totally agree that these “onerous” demands justify anything and everything! Terrifying…
This is horrifying!
Wow. Just…. wow.
Having given birth to my sweet daughter 7 weeks ago, I cannot imagine how anyone could be so monstrous as to kill their own child. I carried her for 39 weeks during I was hospitalized several times due to severe complications. At one point when I declined a particular intervention, one doctor said that I was more important than the child. Untrue! As a mother, and yes, we are mothers from the first days of pregnancy, we are to protect the life God has given us! Even if it is “onerous”…
I am disgusted with this young lady, disgusted with the judicial system, and in tears due to the callousness of the people who would rather protect the “rights of the woman” rather than the right to life.
This woman is disgusting. If she didn’t want the baby why didn’t she at least leave him at a police or fire station with a note on him? What selfishness!
I posted about this on Facebook, it made me so furious. Here was my comment: “Some baby-killing monster was just let off by bleeding-heart, empty-skulled judges in Canada. Why? “She was sorry”. And convicted of “infanticide” instead of MURDER (apparently there’s a difference). This is it: babies are no longer people and female killers can get off if they shed liquid from their eyes and claim repentence. God help the innocent; please smite this evil horror.”
There are few kinds of people more disgusting, and those judges )or judge) must be lacking both heart and brain. They have no honor, no sense, no idea of justice.
While I was equally horrified and sickened by the sins committed at the hands of this person, I also think we need to be careful not to dehumanize her, and we need to be VERY careful not to think ourselves morally superior. Instead of reducing her to a baby-killing monster and calling for God to smite her, we should be praying that our *sister* would turn from her sins and cry out to God for forgiveness. Remember that any one of us (myself included!) would be equally condemned were it not for the saving power of Christ.
Birdie, I consider any normal person to be greatly morally superior to a cold-blooded killer. I don’t want her to be sent to hell, and I’ve never prayed for this, but I do wish for a huge smite to the hearts of any and all who hurt the innocent. She already IS inhuman, and she is not my sister.
Jennifer you are 100% right. Wow I am horrified.
Thanks, it is indeed horrific.
In America we have conservatives calling for those without health insurance to be left to die. (google outbursts at the GOP debate) How is that any different? You all,conservatives, are no better.
“In America we have conservatives calling for those without health insurance to be left to die. (google outbursts at the GOP debate) How is that any different? You all,conservatives, are no better.”
Ad hominem attacks will get you nowhere.
Let’s see how well the NHS treats their elderly, shall we?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2011/feb/15/poor-treatment-older-people-nhs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/feb/15/nhs-report-elderly
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1163064/HARRIET-SERGEANT-Why-does-NHS-hate-elderly-much.html
Health insurance =/= health care. Oh well, at least everyone was insured when they were left to die……
It is horrifying. But not surprising. We live in a society that has rejected God and embraced wickedness. This is what humanity looks like without God.
Kristen..I completely agree. This is what humanity looks like without God!!
Would that I could be a guardian angel for each and every child! I weep and pray for this precious little boy who was robbed of his life so cruelly. My heart aches to comfort and restore him, even though such power is beyond me. Oh Lord, when will this brutality end?!
Disgusting. Sickening and so sad. Taking God out of everything is sure ending well….
This is so sad & so sick that the judge would rule this way. Our judicial system is very skewed.
Kelly, thanks for posting. This is so disturbing. How do you even respond to something like this? It is just so utterly disgusting, the level of desensitization that we have reached as a society.
Very well-said. And you are right..change begins with a person. You said, “obligated to rule by the law, not by feelings,”…funny because there is a post brewing inside my head dealing with this very thing–a “feeling” perpetuated relativism that has replaced any shred of truth. We are no longer allowed to claim any one thing to be “right”…we are just almost there, even within our judicial system.
Guys, remember that this is Canada, not America, in case there was any confusion.
Elizabeth is from Canada…and yes, I slipped referring to “our” judicial system. BUT, I’ve seen cases in our country as well, that clearly are bent toward feeling instead of justice and “our” judicial system might as well refer to a universal one because it is only a matter of time here too. The same thoughts lead to the same practices which lead to the same disintegration of morality everywhere.
Judges 17:6 In those days… every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
I’m sure this has been mentioned before, but I don’t wanna read all the comments 😉 — have you seen 180 the movie? 180themovie.com
Absolutely amazing. How one question changed a dozen people’s minds about abortion.
180? You mean the Spanish film about a man with cancer?
No–http://www.180movie.com/
Caught in Stacy Mcdonald’s blog too. Thanks!
watched last night and posted on my blog and then sent to all my friends on my email list.
The sad part is that there is a lot of people in Canada (and the States) that applaud this ruling. The rights of the poor, confused teenage mother outweigh everything else in this case – and others. Yes, she is a poor, confused teenager…but no one wants to teach her anything better.
We (both countries) are raising up generation after generation that cries ‘victim!’ every time they turn around – no consequences for any action; no blame to be found. God help them…because the ‘village’ that raised them up certainly won’t.
Good day! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I truly enjoy reading through your articles. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same subjects? Many thanks!
Apologies for the double-post, but I should have mentioned: The above comment is setting aside, for the moment, whether or not the woman was punished enough. It was only meant to show the intent of the law, & whether or not it was connected to abortion laws.