Connections

I was reading the "LOCAL" section of the Kansas City Star today when I noticed an interesting arrangement of stories. On page 2, the inside of page 1 (natch!) was an article telling us that a federal judge ordered Missouri prison officials to transport a pregnant inmate to get an abortion. The judge ruled that "A Missouri Department of Corrections policy instituted last year violated the constitutional rights of incarcerated women who could not otherwise have access to abortion services they legally are entitled to..." ("Abortion transportation ordered" by Tony Rizzo of the KC Star, Wednesday, July 19, 2006) When you remove pages 3-12 of the LOCAL section (which leaves only the outside page of the section -- pages 1, 2 and 13,14), immediately across from the page 2 story on abortion is the story (on page 13) headlined "Couple accused of abusing teen." (by KC Star writers James Hart and Mark Morris) This is a story about a couple who kept "a disabled teenager, their second cousin, captive in their basement." I am amazed that more people don't see the irony in that. On the inside front of the section, we have a story telling us that children are not worth preserving. On the inside back of the section, we have a story reporting the end result of treating life as "throw-away." Doesn't anyone see the connection here? When we as a society build into the cultural psyche the idea that life is cheap and insignificant, we must expect people to live that out in the form of child abuse, elder abuse, spousal abuse, etc. Statistics have alarmed law enforcement across the country lately -- violent crime is on a dramatic increase. Folks, there is a connection here that cannot be dismissed. When society devalues life in its beginning stages, it will necessarily devalue life in all its stages!