Friday, September 01, 2006

"Fetus" or Baby?

One of the latest culture-of-death ploys in the media is to call unborn babies "fetuses" in order to dehumanize them.

Yesterday's Boston Globe ran a story about a
dead "female fetus" that was discovered in a girls' restroom at Brighton High School. Was the dead "fetus" was just a bit of dead tissue? Was it human? (Story doesn't say.) The janitor who made the discovery was very shaken by his discovery of this dead tissue, though somewhat comforted that he could name the "fetus" after his mother before its burial.

Now, if this was a just a fetus, why does it need a burial suitable for a human baby? And why was its discovery so upsetting? Why didn't the janitor just throw it in the garbage? Why does it get a name? Why are the police searching for whoever abandoned the fetus? (And why does the Globe run a story?) Obviously, the Catholic Church, Baby Safe Haven, and the janitor understand what the Boston Globe does not: This was a human BABY, not a fetus.

A name, a grave for abandoned female fetus (Boston Globe, 8/31/06)
The name "Frances Hope" has been chosen. A cemetery plot has been donated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. A white sleeper and a sweater have been set aside to dress the body before burial. Tomorrow morning, at St. Patrick's cemetery in Watertown, the abandoned female fetus whose body was discovered at Brighton High School will be buried.


Baby Safe Haven New England, a nonprofit group that has taken custody of the body, offered Mojave [the janitor who discovered her] the chance to choose a name, as a way to comfort him. Mojave, who was deeply shaken by the experience, chose Frances, the name of his late mother.... Mojave chose the last name Hope, to honor another group that helps abandoned newborns. Police are searching for whoever delivered the fetus, which was not full term. They have not announced any leads.