Disturbing News

I just read an article that was, in my mind, very disturbing. A 20-year old student from USC had given birth and threw the baby in a dumpster behind a restaurant. The coroner said the baby was born alive charging her with murder. Her high-priced defense, with medical expert witnesses, said no, this was not a case of murder. The judge dismissed the charges because of these expert witnesses. She is still however, being charged with child abuse.

This is what is disturbing (beside the obvious, imho), she mysteriously gave birth to another baby two years prior - no baby was found. She went to the hospital and said

"the baby was stillborn, and police could never find the baby's body to verify her claim"

.Friends and family are thrilled for her-that the charge of murder was dismissed. Her high school guidance counselor raved about her:

"She's one of those memorable kids. Probably [ranks in] the top 10 kids of all time that I've ever worked with academically."

Okay, all my opinion here but...here's a young lady, probably from a fairly wealthy family (to afford USC and the well-known Mark Garregos to defend her) having two pregnancies and both of them ending mysteriously, perhaps by her own hand. There is something very dysfunctional here - in regard to her understanding of reproduction, her family relationships and support and what is considered moral.

I really can't get over the audacity of this gal. To have given up, to throw in a dumpster, children (not a child but children - 2!) after giving birth, after feeling their movements in her womb, seeing their faces, feeling their fingers. I have to wonder if she feels totally alone in this world, no one to turn to in times of personal crisis. Or if she did turn to someone, what kind of advise did she receive?

"She's a wonderful lady." "We couldn't be happier for her." This is what her friends, family and acquaintances have to say. To charge her with murder, according to Dr. Hodgman, director of pediatrics at Keck school (with 40 years of experience examining newborn deaths), would be a "miscarriage of justice". Apt words but I would apply them to two other individuals.

Am I sympathetic to Miss Ashcroft's feelings? A little. I believe she needs intense counseling to help her understand the depth of her actions and healing when she acknowledges that she threw away two precious lives.

So I am disturbed, angry and praying.