Guest Editorial: Another Perspective

Are we ready?

Are we ready? Are we prepared to stand behind the reversal of Roe v Wade?

I’m not convinced we are.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m pro-life. I’ve dedicated my life to pro-life choices. And it’s by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It’s not something you can do halfway. It’s a lifetime commitment. It’s more than contributing to the pro-life financial and political campaigns – it’s a life choice.

Are we as a nation, a state or a community ready to take on the hardships and make the changes that support pro-life choices? With the action of the Supreme Court of the United States to take away a woman’s choice to give birth, have we then, as a people, assumed some responsibility in the matter? Indeed, we have.

Last week, back when women had a choice, financial concerns may have been a factor in a woman’s choice to have an abortion. Of course, there are concerns of medical and health, social status, career and life complications – but for the purpose of this column, I’m just going to scratch the surface of financial resources in North Dakota that are not supportive of pro-life choices. I speak from experience that in North Dakota – especially rural North Dakota – resources are few and far between that support births into families that vary from traditional two-parent, middle-income, dual-wage-earner households.

Did you know that the national nutritional subsidy program, WIC, is not readily accessible to many women, infants and children here? The agency’s regional office and the state will argue that. But I know women who have not been allowed to participate in the program because they did not have transportation or could not get time off work to get to Harvey for the required in-person monthly or quarterly certification.

Even if a participant in WIC were to be able to get to the appointments to receive the vouchers, WIC is not accepted in some rural grocery stores, such as Tracy’s Market in Fessenden, because WIC has determined that there isn’t enough volume of WIC participation in those rural stores. So, to utilize the vouchers if they can get them, a participant must be able to travel to shop in Harvey or Carrington or somewhere where WIC is accepted.

Are we ready to make changes that will provide nutritional supplements to women, infants and children in rural North Dakota?

Child support is another resource I hear thrown around. The story is that absent parents are required to contribute to the life of their children financially. While that may be true in premise, there are countless loopholes. For example, if the absent parent is incarcerated, any obligation to pay child support is waived during incarceration so as not to place undue hardship on the inmate.

If a family has received financial assistance from social services, what used to be called welfare, subsequent child support payments from the absent parent are used to pay back the state before it goes to the child. For example, a woman might get assistance (or welfare) from the state for two years. Maybe $300 a month would be a total of $7,200 before she can support herself. When the absent parent starts paying child support, the child support is garnished by the state until the $7,200 is paid back before it is paid to the woman raising the child.

Are we ready to make changes that will provide child support payments to be collected and paid to the child for whom they are intended?

Another consideration that may surprise some is that there is no subsidy or supplement for extended family members who support pro-life choices. Unless the family member maintains earnings below the poverty level, there is no childcare, food, or housing assistance. It’s a choice and a financial sacrifice that each extended family must make individually. Either you must live below the poverty level to maintain assistance eligibility or earn a wage that exceeds the poverty level and sustain the formidable expenses of child care, food and housing necessary to support life. There’s a vast gap between poverty and sustenance. Not every extended family can bridge the gap.

Conditions are rarely ideal to meet the challenges we face day to day. But we each choose to face them as best we can. Are we as a nation, state or community ready to make the choices to make the changes that will support pro-life? Are our policies meant to support birth or all of the hundreds of thousands of days after birth? Are there, indeed, times when policy around funding includes the question of “who’s deserving?” Are families who struggle with substance use disorder and mental illness – which is a huge swath of any population – deemed worthy?

There’s much ground to cover between giving birth and supporting life. Policymaking from ivory towers just won’t work when you are genuinely focused on the sanctity of life for the little, precious, potential-filled kids.

Really, are you ready?

“Not my problem,” some will say.

“I hope you’re right,” I would reply.

Indeed, someday, we may each find ourselves or our family facing life-supporting challenges.

Are we ready?

The word sanctity means holy or sacred. We profess to celebrate the sanctity of life - as we should. I pray that we, as a nation, state and community, are ready to honor and support that sanctity among us.