The Viable

 

 

Viable?
(by R.P.Edwards)

The line of Viability
The end for doctors'…do
Preceding, is the bleeding
But post…?
Then, “shame on you”
We’re talking here of people
When they’re recognized, as such
And of those
Who wish to kill them
When their conscience needs
A crutch

In some ways my modest dwelling is like a time capsule.  I was reminded of this recently when taking note of some wind damage to the upper parts of the exterior.  Gone with the blast were a few sections of soffit (a horizontal covering placed under the roof overhang).  And, revealed with the peel…was a wire.  At first I thought, “cable,” but, with the addition of the ladder and a closer peek it became, “Well, I’ll be; an old antenna wire.” 

The structure was built in 1920.  No doubt the region was still rebounding from the effects of World War I and, worse yet, the deadly Spanish Flu.  I’ve read that this “super bug” killed up to “ten” times more Americans than the Kaiser’s bombs and bullets.  And, sifting through my memory I recall seeing quite a few “stones” from that period when strolling through a local cemetery a few years back.

Of course, later came World War II, Korea, Vietnam. All…life takers.  And somewhere in that time period--probably the 1950’s--the antenna went up.  Yes, simpler times.  Life was to be valued.  For one reason, it had shown itself, time and time again, as a fragile thing; an easily lost thing; a “to be defended” thing.  And then…came the seventies, and the turning.  For it was then that the Supreme Court, rather than seeking to preserve life; rather than giving “life” the benefit of a doubt; they decreed, in their passionless proclamation, that babies in the womb, were not babies at all.  And we, a generation later, and 50 million Americans lighter, are left trying to reverse the “dieing trend” that the few “wise ones” forced upon the nation.

So, here’s a genuine salute to the Indiana legislators who have fought hard to bring the law’s recognition of “personhood” down to twenty weeks gestation.  And, although the loss of life due to recent tornadic activity is indeed tragic, terrible; the loss of human life in our local abortion clinic, just down the street; just two miles from this old house; will exceed that number in just a few short weeks.  These “people,”  however, are unrecognized, and unloved.

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