How American Parents are Forced to Sacrifice Their Children in the Name of Profit

Maybe we should consider the consequences of condemning innocent people to die by denying them health care

Death results from many of the policies we discuss in the media. But that truth rarely makes it into the conversation.

When people begin to bluster about the need for “mass deportations,” they don’t recognize that it’s a policy that will cost a lot of innocent people their lives. It’s the same as how we congratulate ourselves as using a “humane” mouse trap. But how often does that disoriented animal you release into the wild survive the day?

Out of sight, out of mind.

But just because you didn’t see the suffering, doesn’t mean you’re not responsible.

I’ve had my faith in humanity shaken on more than one occasion. But I’ve also found that when you force people to observe the consequences of their beliefs, most are unwilling to persist in tormenting their neighbors.

Most of them stop once they recognize the pain that they cause.

The problem is that the media doesn’t tell the story.

I am a fortunate man. My loving family consists of two brilliant daughters, a wonderful wife, and a loyal dog. Most days, my thoughts are occupied with enjoying our precious time together. But there are moments when weakness descends upon me, and I become fearful of something happening to them.

My wife is an immigrant, so we’ve lived in constant danger for the last ten years. Immigration has been an absurd political firebrand throughout that time. Men get all worked up at rallies and then are released into the streets to inflict harm on anyone who doesn’t look like them.

It happens.

It doesn’t matter to these monstrous people who have fanned the flames of hatred in their souls if my wife and kids are US citizens. More than once, some grievance-addled man has pulled up next to my wife’s car, noticed the darkness of her skin, and initiated a crazed tirade.

What can she do but face forward and continue on her way?

Still, I worry that some impotent individual, tainted by an atmosphere of grievance, will take it upon himself to run her off the road. Men like that tend to drive large vehicles. They become incensed when women, particularly immigrants, don’t show them the deference they feel they’re entitled to.

We don’t talk about this, but it’s out there. That simmering rage is out there, and it’s dangerous. That simmering hate condemns innocent people to death.

We don’t talk about it.

But I have thought about it.

In my darkest moments, I’ve fretted over what might happen if the worst befell any member of my family. I’ve been paralyzed by those thoughts. I’ve lost weight and vomited.

When I share these fears, people often say, “Well, that’s never going to happen.” But I know that’s not true. I’ve seen it happen. Two years ago a child was raped and murdered in my community. I was with the search party. I can’t stand the presence of people who deny the reality of rape. I can’t stand the presence of people who deny the reality of murder.

“Oh, that will never happen.”

Every day, I consider the consequences of the offensive decision to deny women access to reproductive healthcare. It’s killing women. Women are bleeding out in hospital parking lots. People don’t think it’s true because the media isn’t covering it, but it is true. If you don’t make people understand that this policy is condemning the innocent to an agonizing death, it’s going to come knocking at your door in one way or another.

In one way or another.

We have to stop killing each other!

In my darkest moments, I’ve feared the loss of my family. Even if we lost the dog, I’d be devastated. Sometimes I have trouble accepting the natural order of things. But a dog’s life is meant to be precious and short. He’s there to love us and protect us and I’m grateful for him. Still, if he were lost, I expect I could survive it.

I’m less certain of that being the case if I were to lose my wife or my children. I’ve thought about this a lot. The girl who was raped and murdered was between the ages of my daughters. But what if she’d survived only to die from the effects of a non-viable pregnancy?

What if she developed a health issue and died because she was denied coverage?

So many people in our country are struggling. We make sacrifices every day to pay the absurd expense of insurance that we can’t even depend on. The reality is that healthcare in our country is a constant point of stress. At any given moment, you don’t know if you’re a broken arm away from going bankrupt.

At any given moment, a bit of bad luck could deprive you of everything you’ve worked for your whole life. Poof! Gone! Because our system protects corrupt profit over human beings. It doesn’t matter if people die. The only thing our country cares about is whether or not an entitled few can get rich.

Your life means nothing.

The lives of everyone you care about mean nothing.

We don’t say that explicitly, but the message is clear in the subtext of the policies and positions our courts and politicians approve.

We hand out suffering like it’s candy and the media laughs. If somebody complains, they’re shunned. “Quit being such a killjoy. The things you’re fretting about will never happen.”

But they happen every day.

The reality is that regular, hardworking people don’t ask for much. We’re happy to do our 40 hours of labor. We’re happy to study hard and sacrifice our time so that some entitled jerks can spend their days on a yacht or a private island.

All we want is to keep enough of our harvest to keep our kids healthy. We want one day a week to spend some time together. We want to get together on holidays and be grateful for whatever we have. That’s all we want.

What we’re getting is a system where at any given moment, our children’s lives might be taken from us. Nobody talks about it. Nobody is trying to fix it. Some people even look at our misery and laugh.

But it’s a bridge too far.

We need to seriously consider having our loved ones taken from us. What if we’re told that a decision was made and our children have to die because a company’s bottom line is more important than human life? We’re told that every day. Nobody is fighting for us. They fight only for money.

I think it’s past time we recognized that this message is more than any human being should be expected to accept. It’s time for somebody to stand up for life.

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