“When law and morality contradict each other the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his sense of morality or losing his respect for the law.” — Frederick Bastiat (h/t: Gunner)
As I have been keeping up with the story of Juana Villegas DeLaPaz, the 9-months-pregnant woman who, with her 3 children, was pulled over by the Berry Hill police (Berry Hill is a small incorporated area in Nashville), and made to sit in her hot car for over an hour, charged with “careless driving” (no other details available) as she was leaving a prenatal clinic and taken to jail, and then forced to go through labor cuffed to the bed followed by her baby being taken away from her to where she could not nurse or bond with the child and furthermore denied a breast pump to be able to relieve her swollen breasts (and by the way, I dare you to snicker at that last point…there are no words to describe the pain of engorged breasts other than for men, I suppose “blue balls” might be close, but with engorged breasts, the glands can get clogged causing infection and you can get very, very sick with fever, etc. It can get very serious…this is no laughing matter…) I continue to be baffled by the reaction of so many who proclaim that she was breaking the rule of law therefore she got what she had coming to her!
What amazes me is that in their passion and anger for their cause, they seem to take the humanity out of the equation. If you don’t believe me, just read this thread over at Tiny Cat Pants. It literally brought me to tears to know that there is such literal hatred so close in proximity to me in the local blogosphere. It’s sick. The woman was guilty of a civil MISDEMEANOR (lack of citizen documentation) and a TRAFFIC OFFENSE “careless driving, unspecified” and no driver’s license); yet was dehumanized in a way that screams to me as if she were some kind of terrorist. Does the punishment fit the crime here? If you have ever ventured over the speed limit, you are guilty of breaking the rule of law.
Let’s say YOU were 9 months pregnant, you were leaving your last prenatal appointment with your 3 kids in the car, and let’s say that you were speeding, you got distracted by your kids arguing in the backseat, swerved, got stopped, and oh my goodness, you failed to get your driver’s license renewed 3 months ago. Yes, you are flag pin wearing citizen of the good ‘ol United States of Amurca, so putting that aside, let’s say you jaywalked (a misdemeanor) 2 weeks ago, so you have a ticket from that hanging over your head, as well.
You are now in the same predicament as Villegas.
Now let’s say Berry Hill’s finest decide that since you are browner skinned than is per his taste, he wants to take you into custody and run you through the whole ICE system. You are now in jail, worried sick about your kids, you feel like total crap because you’re as big as a house, swollen, exhausted, and then your water breaks and you end up going into labor. You are alone and scared.
What is going to happen to you? They take you to Metro General. Your own OB/GYN who has cared for you and walked this journey with you for the last 9 months may have planned for your delivery elsewhere, but you aren’t allowed to contact your own doctor. The staff tries to give you the best and most compassionate care possible in spite of the sheriff’s guard intervening and insisting on you being made to undress in front of him, going through labor handcuffed by your wrists and ankles to the bed — writhing and shifting as you try to get some relief from the pain. You finally deliver, but then they take the baby from you and you are told they are calling the father to come and get it. You can’t even follow your own basic human instincts that God has instilled in you to care and nurture your newborn baby. Then your breasts swell in pain, you try to express them as much as possible manually, but you really need a pump but the guard won’t let you have it. Then, they take you back to jail, and 2 days later release you in the dead of night at 3am.
Remember…you are guilty of a misdemeanor. How would YOU feel?
Somebody asked me why this story got me so riled up. Why do I care so much about what happened to a total stranger who “shouldn’t have been here in the first place” when there are so many problems needing addressed of our own citizens?
First of all, I am a human being. We all come into this world naked, and we will all return to dust when our time is finished…and it will not matter what nationality a piece of paper said we were when it is all said and done.
Secondly, I am a woman. A woman who has given birth. I have experienced my legs up in stirrups where modesty is no longer a consideration. I felt my water break, the sharp pain of labor…sometimes labor isn’t a picture perfect made-for-TV event…sometimes women vomit during labor, which I did once (sorry for the TMI, but you need to understand that this is real life, folks, and sometimes life is messy, and this had to be really difficult for her)…I was in labor 14 hours before I had to have a C-section…but I can’t imagine what all of that would have been like without my husband or anybody I was familiar with there. Can you?
Thirdly, I am a follower of Jesus Christ’s teachings and have been since I was a child. I do not always succeed in living the precepts in a perfect manner, but I do know one thing for sure, and that is that the very foundation of His teaching is compassion. Think about the stories of the “unwanted” people that he called “friend” when he lived among us. It baffles me that so many who profess to follow Him would reject the notion to act with compassion on those who would need it most. Does a woman giving birth to an innocent newborn baby not deserve basic human needs?
I was discussing this whole debacle with Mack the other day, and I told him that I wished that the local church (as a whole) would take a stand on human rights issues such as these — because this is not an immigration vs. anti-immigration issue — this is about a woman being able to give birth freely, without her legs being shackled and her baby being taken away — and he said something so profound to me and it is so true…
“You can’t institutionalize Jesus.”
How true…the church is not a building…the Spirit of compassion is within each of us. The fight for human rights begins within each of us. Fighting for those who cannot fend for themselves is the responsibility of each and every one of us who have the ability to.
We are in deep trouble, America. Treating our women worse than animals during their most vulnerable time…taking their newborn babies away from their breasts…
We should bow our heads. First in shame. Then in prayer.
May God have compassion on us and then may we have compassion on each other.
Filed under: Cultural Matters, Current Events, Health, Spirituality | Tagged: Berry Hill, blue balls, breast engorgement, church, human rights, immigration, Juana Villegas DeLaPaz, misogyny, Nashville, pregnancy, women, women's rights
Amen.
Ginger:
Unfortunately, I don’t think that “institutionalizing” Jesus is the answer. a lot of folks who claim to be christians are more than willing, because of their fear (which spawns hatred) of being attacked, to allow our “leaders” to formulate and promulgate such inhumane policies for dealing with those they perceive to be a threat. I know lots of folks–christians, other faiths, aereligious and atheists–who are compassionate, caring individuals. Obviously, they have a moral code which was informed by those around them or their beliefs. I think of my mother when I hear of something like this. My mother was, sadly, a bigot; otoh, her bigotry would have never pushed her to anything like the sort of behavior exhibited in this case. Maybe if we all thought about what our mother’s might do, it would help.
Lisa: And amen.
democommie: Truer words…
This is Nazi-ism at it’s most sadistic. There should be a major shake-up in Berry hill.
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I was discussing this whole debacle with Mack the other day, and I told him that I wished that the local church (as a whole) would take a stand on human rights issues such as these
I’m not sure which “local church” you’re referring to. Some denominations – the Catholic Church in particular but also my own denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and others — have been very active in immigrants’ rights issues. But “the church” is not a homogenous, monolithic thing. I won’t name names, but some of our biggest congregations tend to turn out in droves on issues like abortion and anti-gay marriage, but when it comes to social justice and human rights, cue the crickets. That is to their shame, IMHO.
I think it comes down more to the actions of individual congregations. And anyone who is active in a church or other place of worship in Nashville and is moved by this issue should definitely step up and get something going in their congregation. Don’t wait for someone else to do it, don’t wait for your church leadership to do it. YOU need to do it. That is how things get done.
My .02.
it’s not a “cruel alternative”.
civil disobedience and resistance to illegal authority is a duty.
the hospital staff should not have cooperated with the officers, who, if the facts are as you say, are criminals and should be held accountabale.
Let me break it down like this,
The law is not a function of men putting pen to paper, but rather universal truth and justice. Throughout Time people have come up with all kinds of schemes for codifying these concepts which admittedly can sometimes be opaque, (the world is not in black and white) philosophy, religion, and so forth, some ideas have held up, some discarded, some reformed, etc; but by-and-large the hearts of good people usually find their way to see clear in these matters.